The Classic Italian Appetizer You Can Make In Seconds Thanks To One Canned Ingredient

Italians, stop reading this now. The rest of you, get closer, because we've got a secret to share: If you're ever feeling hungry, impatient, or you simply have a craving for bruschetta but lack fresh, ripe tomatoes, there is a version you can make in a matter of minutes. All it takes is a can of tomatoes and some fresh seasonings.

There are different types of canned tomatoes, but for this, use chopped ones in order to get the right texture. Otherwise, you'll end up having to chop the whole tomatoes up, and then you might as well be making it fresh. Once the tomatoes have been drained of their juices (we're not making a sauce, after all), you're going to go in with salt, a drizzle of olive oil, and some freshly chopped basil leaves.

There's also the option of using canned diced tomatoes that already come seasoned, usually with basil, garlic, and oregano. They're easy. They're fine. But they often taste a bit flat, or vaguely fake, in a way that's hard to pin down, so plain canned tomatoes may behave better. You can salt them to taste and decide for yourself how much basil is enough. It's not fresh tomato flavor, but it's closer than letting the can do everything for you.

Traditionally, the tomatoes are usually chopped fresh before being salted, oiled, tossed with basil, and left to sit. So while using canned tomatoes skips the chopping, giving it a few moments to let the flavors infuse together will definitely help; you could even let them sit overnight in the fridge. Once the tomatoes are ready, toast your bread and rub it with a fresh garlic clove while it's still warm. And don't forget this is the sort of dish you want to assemble right as you serve so that the toast doesn't turn into mush. Once it's put together, you could also drizzle the tomatoes with some balsamic glaze, top them with mozzarella slices, stir some pesto into the mix, or even serve with a few slices of prosciutto.

Luckily, the traditional version of this recipe in Italy isn't actually about showing off with ingredients; it's about using what's around. Bruschetta is often a way to use up stale bread, which actually makes this hack even more useful for the days when you have no fresh produce and no fresh bread.

As someone who grew up in Italy, I can almost guarantee that most Italians won't approve of the shortcut, but I think they would recognize the instinct behind it. And at the end of the day, you can't beat the logic that tomato and bread is a simple but gorgeous combination.