Bake Day for my microbakery, Brot Blume, always means fresh bread for dinner. It also tends to mean a day when I don’t feel much like a grande cooking event for dinner- enter the beloved salad and cheesy bread.
A dish riffed off the bruschetta at Mambo Italiano, a uni-era haunt in our beloved college town of Bellingham, WA. Mambo was fancy for the nearly broke college kids Eric and Andreya and the bruschetta was gloriously delicious and affordable. I don’t think it came with a salad. In fact, I can’t really remember what it came with at all- surely prosciutto and tomatoes… probably mozzarella… All I know for certain is that it was the reason why Eric and I started making this dish over 20 years ago and it has become a staple in our kitchen.
What I love most about it, other than how satisfying it is, is how quickly it comes together and how easily it moves through the seasons. We pile it high with little tomatoes and cukes in summer, enjoy it with topped caramelized onions and mleted kaltbach gruyère in winter with a kale and radicchio salad and right now- in the midst of Spring, simply mozz and parm sat next to a simply dressed salad of tender greens with crunchy pepitas.
Cheesy bread is simple, I feel silly even explaining it- but here you go. Disclaimer- 1 or 2 day old bread is best because it toasts up better, but, as I mentioned this was bake day, so fresh bread it was! Slice your bread in pieces or lengthwise through the center if you have a baguette type shape. Place them on an oiled sheet pan, in an even layer, then, top them with your cheese. I grated parm first, then topped with fresh mozzarella (the parm can burn on the top, so I prefer it on the bottom). If you have proscuitto or some other sliced meat, add that to it. Bake in a preheated 400F oven until the cheese is all melty, bubbly, browned and your poor little eyes can’t bear seeing the bread so far away from your mouth one second longer!
Drizzle a little EVOO, maybe some fresh herbs and flaky sea salt over the top and delicately scrape up all the crispy little bits of charred cheese stuck to the pan.
Place this on a large plate next to a heaping helping of salad. Ours was greens from the farmstand with a few handfuls of toasted pepitas and lightly dressed with a sherry-walnut oil vinaigrette.
Viniagrette
For those of you who have been around me a while, you know I love a homemade vinaigrette using whatever combo of acids and oils I have on hand. Use a jam jar, if you have one, so you can gauge the ratio volume by looking at the jar.
First, add minced shallot or red onion, then a teaspoon or more of your favorite mustard. Next, enough vinegar (sherry, champagne, red wine, white wine, apple, …) to go one quarter up the side of the jar. A pinch of salt. The zest of some citrus if you have it. Maybe some of the citrus juice. Now, add the oil until you are 3/4 of the way up the side of the jar.
The vinaigrette ratio is roughly 1 part acid to 3 parts oil Always taste it with the thing you’re dressing and play with the quantities as you taste fit. Too oily? Add more vinegar or lemon juice. Too tart? Add more oil. Too watery? Add more oil.
Always taste it and remember, if you don’t like it, nobody else will either.
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