Bruschetta

Its practically customary at home to crack open a nice wine and sit around the table every Sunday evening. Generally, we have some cheese and crunchy dal-mote with the wine, but today there was a loaf of artisanal bread and plump tomatoes lying in the fridge. So the accompaniment was a fresh tomato and mint bruschetta. With the bread, I grilled it on my grill pan for a nice char and the adding some fresh paneer (cottage cheese) for a little sweetness.

Ingredients

• 1 small loaf of artisanal bread, like a baguette, cut into thick slices
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 4 jalapeños, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic  
• 2 tbsp paneer, crumbled
• 1 small bunch of mint leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Method

1. Mix the tomatoes, paneer, 2 tbsp of oil, vinegar, jalapeños, mint, salt and pepper and keep aside for at least 20 minutes. 
2. Oil the grooves of the grill pan and heat it on medium heat.
3. Baste the slices liberally with the remaining olive oil and place on the grill pan. Grill on both sides to crispen the slices and get a nice char.
4. Take off the heat and rub a garlic clove into each side. Do this while its still hot as the garlic will melt into the bread.
5. Top with the tomato mix and serve up as a light starter or snack.