INGREDIENTS
French Baguette
Olive Oil
Traditional Ricotta Cheese                                               
Dried Herbs, like Basil or Oregano
Pear or baby cherry tomatoes
Kosher or Sea Salt
Cracked Black Pepper

METHOD
Slice bread on the diagonal. Brush both sides with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. If you have an outdoor grill, then you can use that. If not, then toast the slices under the broiler in your oven, taking care not to burn them. Remove from oven and cool. Clean and dry the tomatoes, then slice in half. Spread each slice of bread with ricotta cheese and sprinkle with the herb of your choice. Toss the tomatoes in Olive Oil, Black pepper and salt, then spoon on top of the ricotta and serve.

Hint: Good tomatoes are getting easier and easier to find year round. Try to find the Del Cabo brand, or any other type of heirloom. In winter, the flavor of regular hot house tomatoes can be improved by coring, cutting in half, tossing in olive oil and slowly roasting them in a 200°f over for an hour or two. Then cooling and dicing. I enjoy the flavor of dried herbs with ricotta cheese, which is why I use them here. Oregano goes particularly well with this dish, but you can try oregano, marjoram and thyme. For an added kick, toss your tomatoes in freshly ground sea salt, now available in almost all grocery stores. It now comes self-contained in it’s own little grinder. Also, you can impress your friends by pronouncing Bruschetta correctly: broos-ket’-ah!   ☺