Goats Cheese Bruschetta with Roasted Vegetables and Basil Oil

If you’re a goats cheese fan, you’re a goats cheese fan…does that make sense? Yeah, I think so.

I LOVE it, hits the spot every time! I also love bruschetta, piled high with veggies and of course goats cheese, drizzled in extra virgin olive oil and guaranteed to make a mess! Bring it on…

This is my take on bruschetta and I hope you like it as much as I do. I’ve topped grilled white bloomer slices with Goats cheese, roasted courgettes and peppers, topped with seasoned rocket and drizzled in freshly made basil oil. Big on flavour, just as it sounds.

I can roast vegetables all day long, I also love to use fresh herbs and of course I’m in a long term relationship with bread and cheese! So there we have a marriage made in culinary heaven, no?

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Please do not rate my authenticity though, I’d like to think there is some, but I’m not so sure. Therefore, in case I’ve broken every rule in the bruschetta book, I’m just reminding you that I’m in no way claiming to be any kind of expert in Italian cooking 😉.

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Most recipes advise using stale bread. Great, but in my house, there’s rarely stale bread, I buy the bread leave it for two days then I make this! Why wait? It does work better, the bread remains sturdier as it’s hard. Perhaps there’s a more meaningful reason or a story, do enlighten me, but in all seriousness it definitely works better if stale.

Bruschetta suits my favourite aspects of cooking - which mostly is not about the cooking. I like the book end activities - the prepping and the assembling. This is about both, the middle section is fairly fail-proof and consists of putting the courgettes in the oven! It’s super bloody easy, enjoy.

Here’s the recipe:

Goats Cheese and Courgette Bruschetta with Roasted Peppers and Basil Oil

PREP/COOK TIME - 15 MINS | DIFFICULTY RATING - EASY | SERVES - 3,4 | RECIPE TYPE - LUNCH/DINNER/STARTER

Ingredients

1 large ciabatta loaf/roll. Or whatever bread you like, today I’ve used a fresh organic white Bloomer from Morrisons
I large courgette sliced into thin rounds
1 jar of roasted peppers
1 bunch of basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic
Rocket leaves
Goats cheese
Extra-virgin olive oil
Seasoning

Instructions

Blitz basil together with a good glug of extra virgin olive oil, 1 garlic clove and season to taste. Set aside.
Slice 1 courgette into thin circles (approx 5mm thick), lay on an oiled baking tray, season and bake in a medium hot oven for about 10 mins. Once cooked, remove from the oven and set aside.
Slice goats cheese into circles (thickness is really down to taste, I’d go for no more than 1cm though), 2 pieces max per bruchetta portion, drain the peppers, allow 2 or 3 pepper chunks per slice of bread. Dress the Rocket leaves in some extra virgin olive oil and season.
Slice the bread into approx 1.5cm thick slices. Toast, grill, or dry fry in a pan. Rub with some fresh garlic.
Assemble the bruschetta - layer torn pieces of goats cheese, courgettes and peppers. Top with rocket, drizzle with basil oil and season to taste.
Eat and enjoy!

My notes and tips

This recipe is pretty fail-safe, as mentioned, it’s all about the prep and the assembly, so get yourself organised and line all your ingredients up for the final construction of tasty goodness - it’s the only way!

There are many variations on bruschetta, loads of options so go with what you like. Check out my recommendations below.

I hope you enjoy this tasty recipe, let me know how you get on!

Final thoughts:

What to do with the bread ends? Turn them into delicious garlic breadcrumbs or croutons, and whatever you do, do not discard the oil the peppers are stored in either, it’s full of flavour - never throw this secret weapon away. I have two recipes coming soon, which put both of these leftovers to perfect use.

Bye for now.