Little Italian Pizzas... or Bruschetta

Continuing with the Italian theme, here's an awesome, quick, super affordable recipe for a delicious lunch –– bruschetta! I will be taking full credit for this little dish, even though its super obvious and simple.

Recipe

-Pesto Bruschetta on a Bed of Salad-

[I mean, I've heard that sometimes salads are called beds. I dunno where or when I heard that. But hey, it sounds fancy!]

Bruschetta

Ingredients

- French bread, sliced into 1/2 inch to 1 inch slices

- basil pesto

- 1 fresh tomato, cut into thin triangles

- mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded

- crushed basil

Preparation:

1) Place your French bread slices on a baking sheet. Spacing does not matter.

2) Put just enough pesto on each one to cover them completely.

3) Take your mozzarella cheese slices and tear them into small pieces to cover the French bread slices. If you have shredded cheese, all the easier! Just cover the top of the bread. I had to use slices because it was all I had in the fridge, but it works just the same.

4) Top each piece with tomato slice and a little crushed basil.

5) But the oven on broil and just watch over these guys. It doesn't take long for the cheese to melt and the corners to crisp (maybe like 2-3 minutes depending on the strength of your oven?).

6) Serve over your Salad.

Salad

1) There is no need to buy bag lettuce. I am a huge advocate for buying fresh Romaine lettuce and slicing it up myself. If you don't know how to do this: here's a short explanation. Lay one "heart" of lettuce flat on a cutting board. Grab the end, pushing the leaves together, and slice (God, the word slice is such a beautiful word. I think I'll use it just one more time because the word "cut" just does NOT give the same effect!) it with a very sharp knife width-wise into 1 inch pieces. It's super easy. Put your lettuce in a bowl.

2) Top the salad with dressing, cheese, and croutons. I am also an advocate for not adding too much dressing. Be skimpy, you don't need that much. You gotta make that shit last until your next grocery run!

3) Around your salad go your bruschetta that just popped out of the oven! Voila!

This easy meal is perfect for a college student stopping by the house for a quick bite to eat (Total prep & cook time: About 6-7 minutes). And it's super cheap to make. And it's delicioso! (Yea... delicioso is Spanish and Italian for delicious. You just pronounce the 'c' as an 's' in Spanish and as a 'ch' in Italian!)