Slice, blend, toast, slather, drool! These quick and easy appetizers bring an exotic twist to the familiar tomato bruschetta. Orange and Herbs de Provence flavors marry beautifully. Buy heirloom tomatoes if you can find them. The colors make for extra wow. And these keep in the fridge for a few hours before guests arrive. Ensuring your kitchen is spotless and this recipe is the spotlight!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 half French baguette cut into 8 ½” slices
- 1 – 3 oz. package Speck Italian Ham (at ALDI) or buy soft prosciutto
- 1 – 4 oz. package honey goat cheese
- ¼ cup Olive This! Herbs de Provence Olive Oil + 1 tablespoon
- 2 navel oranges (Need the zest, flesh, and juice)
- 1 pint, or 1 heaping cup diced of heirloom cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup finely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
- ½ tablespoon kosher salt
- ¼ tablespoon black pepper
DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl combine the zest of one orange and the goat cheese. Let it reach room temperature. Combine well. Set aside.
In a larger glass bowl, assemble the following: Take the orange you zested and cut off the peel, revealing only the flesh without any pith. Slice and then cut into small pieces. Cut the peel off the other orange and use a little more than half of the flesh cut into small chunks. Then use the remainder of the orange to squeeze out 1 – 2 tablespoons of the fresh juice. Cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters. Not too tiny but so that the orange pieces and tomatoes are the same size. Add the finely chopped parsley. Add the salt and pepper, and finally the Tbsp of Herbs de Provence oil. Mix well and set aside.
Place the 8 slices of bread on a baking sheet and broil the first side until lightly toasted. Remove, turn over the bread, and take the ¼ cup of oil and brush it generously on the untoasted side. Return to broiler and toast until a lovely brown and the oil is bubbling!
To assemble the tomato bruschettas, slather 1/8th of the orange goat cheese on each toast, oil side up. Then a generous spoonful of the tomato, orange, and parsley mixture. Top with an artfully scrunched piece of the speck ham. Drizzle with a little more of the oil, and a light dusting of black pepper.
Serve. Can cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours. After than the bread becomes too soggy.
NOTE: You can leave the ham off and serve without a meat. These also work well topped with roasted chicken or sliced cold roast beef for a truly elegant plate!
©Photo and Recipes by Copyright, Camine Pappas, 2013 – 2022
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