This isn't your typical bruschetta. My creative version features garlic-rubbed toasts topped with creamy stracciatella cheese and sweet garlic-roasted cherry tomatoes. The resulting Stracciatella Bruschetta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes will tantalize your palate in ways you couldn't imagine!
This bruschetta recipe came to be when I was just trying to use up some leftover stracciatella cheese in my fridge. The result was mindblowingly good. I wasn't even going to post the recipe here, but everyone who tried it said I had to! My sister even said this was one of the best things she's ever put in her mouth.
It's easy to make and only requires a few ingredients. The combination of flavors and textures is unreal. The bread is simultaneously crispy and chewy with a hint of garlic flavor. The stracciatella is gooey and mild, just the perfect creamy canvas on which to nestle the most incredible roasted cherry tomatoes. The flavor of the tomatoes is truly out of this world, so intense, sweet and garlicky at the same time.
If you want to really knock it out of the park for your next gathering (or just for funsies, eat the whole thing, I won't judge) make this recipe. It will truly elevate your bruschetta game to a level that's out of this world.
Ingredient notes
- Baguette: Cutting a baguette on an angle increases the surface area and also gives you the perfect little pointy end to take your first bite! You could use other crusty bread instead of the baguette. I've made toasts for breakfast or lunch using the same method but with rustic country style sliced toasted bread.
- Stracciatella: This is a soft Italian cheese made from shredded fresh mozzarella strands mixed with heavy cream. It's most famously used as the filling inside burrata and is basically heaven in cheese form. It won't be the same, but if you absolutely can't find stracciatella cheese, you could use ricotta cheese as an alternative creamy, mild, spreadable cheese.
- Tomatoes: While regular tomatoes aren't always in season, cherry tomatoes are easy to find year-round because they thrive in greenhouse environments. Use small cherry or grape tomatoes and keep them whole. Do not halve them. Wash and dry them well before roasting. If you want, get colorful heirloom varieties instead of sticking with just red ones.
- Garlic: This is one of the most important ingredients for this bruschetta with cherry tomatoes. Rubbing whole garlic cloves on the lightly toasted bread is a trick used in Spanish cooking to make pan con tomate and in Italian cooking to make the best bruschetta. Don't skip this step. Minced or crushed garlic also completely transforms the roasted tomatoes! It's the key to unlocking all the amazing flavor in these handheld bites.
How to make it
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Add cherry or grape tomatoes to a baking dish or sheet pan large enough to comfortably hold them all in a single layer. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, add minced or crushed garlic, salt and pepper and mix until evenly coated.
Roast for 20 to 30 minutes or until soft, juicy, and blistered. Jostle or stir them once or twice during roasting if needed so they cook evenly. If desired, broil them for 1 to 2 minutes at the end to add a little bit of char. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Bruschetta
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Arrange diagonally sliced pieces of baguette in a single layer on a small baking sheet. Bake for about 5 minutes or until just lightly toasted on top. It should feel dry to the touch but not really have any golden color.
Remove from the oven, and while the toasts are still hot, carefully rub the tops of each toast with whole raw peeled garlic cloves. Discard the stubs of leftover garlic.
Top each garlic-rubbed toast with some stracciatella cheese, covering each piece from end to end with a thin layer. Then, arrange 4 roasted cherry or grape tomatoes on top of each toast. Spoon any of the residual garlicky tomato juices from the pan over the tops of the toasts.
Serve immediately. The toasts should retain their texture for about an hour, but if left too long after assembly some of them can get soggy (if the stracciatella cheese is extra juicy) or conversely the bread can stiffen up and be hard instead of chewy and crispy.
Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
Expert tips
You can roast the cherry tomatoes up to 2 days in advance and refrigerate them in an airtight container until ready to serve. Bring them back to room temperature for about 1 hour before assembling your bruschetta.
Don't slice or toast the baguette slices too early or else they will dry out and get stale. I prefer to toast them no more than 1 hour before I'm ready to assemble and serve my stracciatella bruschetta with roasted cherry tomatoes.
Similar to the above, don't assemble your bruschetta too early. Between the soft cheese and the juicy roasted cherry tomatoes, the toasts can get soggy over time. Assemble these bites immediately before serving for the best results.
Other recipes you may like
- Pan con Tomate (Spanish Tomato Bread)
- The Best Mortadella Sandwich in Rome (Mortadella, Stracciatella, Pesto, and Sun-dried Tomatoes on Pizza Bianca)
- Grilled Cheese with Tomato and Pesto
- Corn and Tomato Pizza
- Strapatsada (Greek Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes)
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also follow me on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Stracciatella Bruschetta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Ingredients
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes:
- 48 cherry or grape tomatoes (about 350 grams / 12 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced or crushed
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bruschetta:
- 12 slices (about 185 grams / 6 ½ ounces) baguette (cut on a diagonal about ¾-inch thick)
- 2 fresh peeled garlic cloves
- 150 grams (5 ¼ ounces / ⅔ cup) stracciatella cheese
Instructions
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Add cherry or grape tomatoes to a baking dish or sheet pan large enough to comfortably hold them all in a single layer. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, add the garlic, salt and pepper and mix until evenly coated.
- Roast for 15 to 18 minutes or until soft, juicy, and blistered. Jostle them once or twice during roasting if needed so they cook evenly. If desired, broil them for 1 to 2 minutes at the end to add a little bit of char. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Bruschetta:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Arrange the diagonally sliced pieces of baguette in a single layer on a small baking sheet. Bake for about 5 minutes or until just lightly toasted on top. It should feel dry to the touch but not really have any golden color.
- Remove from the oven, and while the toasts are still hot, carefully rub the tops of each toast with whole raw peeled garlic cloves. Discard the stubs of leftover garlic.
- Top each garlic-rubbed toast with some stracciatella cheese, covering each piece from end to end with a thin layer. Then, arrange 4 roasted cherry tomatoes on top of each toast. Spoon any of the residual garlicky tomato juices from the pan over the tops of the toasts.
- Serve immediately. The toasts should retain their texture for about an hour, but if left too long after assembly some of them can get soggy (if the stracciatella cheese is extra juicy) or conversely the bread can stiffen up and be hard instead of chewy and crispy.
Notes
- You can roast the cherry tomatoes up to 2 days in advance and refrigerate them in an airtight container until ready to serve. Bring them back to room temperature for about 1 hour before assembling your bruschetta.
- Don't slice or toast the baguette slices too early or else they will dry out and get stale. I prefer to toast them no more than 1 hour before I'm ready to assemble and serve my stracciatella bruschetta with roasted cherry tomatoes.
- Similar to the above, don't assemble your bruschetta too early. Between the soft cheese and the juicy roasted cherry tomatoes, the toasts can get soggy over time. Assemble these bites immediately before serving for the best results.
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
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