Tomato Bruschetta with Sauteed Spinach

Remember the scene in “Julie and Julia” when Julie is ferociously chopping tomatoes in her teeny Queen’s kitchen, while frying the most beautiful slices of rustic bread, and the camera cuts quickly from the bread, to the tomatoes, to the perfectly torn basil, to her arranging the bruschetta, to them inhaling the works of edible art at the table?

Remember almost peeing your pants, pausing on that scene and slamming your face into the TV screen in a ridiculous attempt for flavor osmosis?

Oh that was just me?

Oh.

Well, I’m telling you what, this is the p.e.r.f.e.c.t. time of year to take advantage of this kind of rustic eating. Freshly picked tomatoes from the garden, basil for days, a warm, golden loaf of bread. Yes, and yes. And yes.

I added a simple layer of sautéed spinach to the mix, just to bump up the greens. But you can leave this baby authentic if you like!

Hey, now I don’t have to slam my face into anything! Well, nothing flat, hard and liable to leave unsightly nose bruises anyway.

Tomato Bruschetta with Sauteed Spinach:

What it took for 2:

* 1 loaf Italian bread, sliced into 1-inch slices
* 4 large tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped
* 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
* 1 clove garlic, peeled and halved
* 4 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
* 2 cups baby spinach
* pinch of coarse salt
* couple of grinds of freshly ground pepper

Heat 1/2 the oil in a medium skillet. Place the bread slices in the skillet and fry (ohhh yes!) until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes total. Remove from pan, rub the garlic half against each slice of bread. Set aside.

Toss the spinach into the pan and cook until wilted, 45 seconds. Remove from heat.

In the meantime, toss the diced tomato with the remaining oil, basil, a good pinch of salt and pepper.

Layer a little spinach across each slice and top with tomato basil mixture.

Summer. At its finest.

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22 Responses to Tomato Bruschetta with Sauteed Spinach

  1. Katie August 4, 2011 at 11:33 pm #
    The perfect meal.. I could eat just this. Yum! Love the idea of the sauteed spinach!
  2. Cassie (Bake Your Day) August 5, 2011 at 12:35 am #
    Peed my pants for sure. Yours looks better than the Hollywood version too. Will you bring some to me?!
  3. Cookin' Cowgirl August 5, 2011 at 11:51 am #
    Love that movie...and yes, i wanted to eat every bite of that dish. This looks beautiful!
  4. Kris | iheartwellness.com August 5, 2011 at 2:27 pm #
    Hello beautiful bruschetta!!! I love nibblies like this...I would eat the whole loaf if it was in front of me :| xxpp
  5. Lauren August 5, 2011 at 3:10 pm #
    Those tomatoes look perfect! Yum.
  6. Sandy @ RE August 5, 2011 at 3:44 pm #
    I'll eat anything with fresh tomatoes. Our are just coming on! I just put this link on my RE FB page. Thank you!
    • Bev Weidner August 5, 2011 at 4:12 pm #
      Wow, thank you Sandy!!
  7. Heidi / foodiecrush August 5, 2011 at 5:28 pm #
    Hello tomato! At first glance I thought the tom in the foreground was one tomato, then realized its two! What a quirky little bulbous fruit you created. Love the addition of the spinach layer. Throw on a little fresh buffalo mozz and whoa Nelly! Tast-tee.
    • Bev Weidner August 6, 2011 at 2:37 am #
      Oh Heidi, seriously. Mozz (and I had some in the fridge - DOH!) would have been perfect. I just got too excited to shove it into my face. :)
  8. Aggie August 5, 2011 at 6:59 pm #
    I could seriously eat like this every night. I picked up some yummy looking yellow tomatoes yesterday and some fresh mozz. Got the basil...even the spinach! Summer eating at its best.
  9. Amanda August 5, 2011 at 7:02 pm #
    This is beautiful. I made bruschetta the other night with homemade pesto instead of spinach and it wasn't nearly as pretty as your version. This is like a cookout's classier best friend. So impressed!
    • Bev Weidner August 6, 2011 at 2:29 am #
      Thank you Amanda!
  10. Katie August 6, 2011 at 2:42 am #
    Those tomatoes are so beautiful that I gasped. Forget osmosis, I want to lick my computer screen.
  11. Deborah August 7, 2011 at 3:56 am #
    Ok, I totally love your addition of spinach. And this makes me totally jealous of your garden tomatoes!!
  12. Chloe Madison Marie September 19, 2011 at 1:17 am #
    This looks wonderful Bev, I have some whole wheat (sprouted) bread that I could really go for, lunch is just around the corner.
    • Bev Weidner September 19, 2011 at 1:51 am #
      Ohhh, sprouted bread sounds perfect for this! DO IT.
  13. myFudo September 19, 2011 at 7:33 am #
    This looks really delicious and healthy, left craving for it. Love this post :)
  14. Julia September 19, 2011 at 3:39 pm #
    They were drinking red wine too. And she wouldn't shut up, and he was eating HUGE bites that were almost disgusting me, but I was too mesmerized by the simple bruschetta to care about his HUGE bites. So ya, you're not the only one who remembers that scene ;) I would eat bruschetta with spinach everyday for the rest of my life, I would. Starting today, I'm going to try ;)
  15. Devan Peterson July 5, 2012 at 9:14 pm #
    No, no, that wasn't just you. I have honestly been dreaming of this bruschetta all day long and I pop on Pinterest and it is waiting for me. I am unbelievably happy to have found it. THANK YOU.
  16. marshal yadav March 30, 2018 at 9:54 am #
    Jumble solver 3 words like the very much word jumble solver so the beautiful game for the mobile play.

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