Bruschetta with avocado and olive tapenade
Mary's new favourite lunch – quick and easy to make and oh so tasty. If your ciabatta loaf is long and narrow, cut it on the diagonal to give a larger surface area to hold all the topping.
For this recipe you need a mini food processor to make the tapenade.
Ingredients
For the tapenade
- 70g/2½oz pitted black olives, drained if from a jar
- 3 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
- 1 tsp runny honey
- 1½ tsp white wine vinegar
For the bruschetta
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 6 thick slices ciabatta
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 just-ripe avocado, flesh sliced into strips
- 2 ripe tomatoes, deseeded and sliced into strips
- 1 small bunch basil, leaves only, some torn and some left whole to garnish
- 200g/7oz buffalo mozzarella, torn into pieces
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
For the tapenade, measure all the tapenade ingredients into a mini food processor. Pulse until well chopped and the mixture forms a rough paste. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Heat a griddle pan or heavy-based frying pan until hot.
Mix the oil and garlic together in a bowl. Brush the ciabatta slices with the garlic oil and then chargrill or pan-fry the bread for 2 minutes on each side until brown and crispy.
Remove from the heat and spread the tapenade over the toasts.
Drizzle the lemon juice over the avocado, then arrange on the toasts, followed by the tomato strips, torn basil and mozzarella. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Drizzle with extra oil before serving, and garnish with the whole basil leaves.
Recipe Tips
You can use shop-bought tapenade to speed things up, though I find my homemade one makes the recipe extra special. Make double the amount, so you’ve extra for another day – place in a sterilised jar and store for 3–4 days in the fridge.
