Oven-Roasted Cherry Tomato Bruschetta
This Oven-Roasted Cherry Tomato Bruschetta bursts with juicy tomatoes, garlic, and melted Havarti cheese on top of a crispy baguette. The perfect year-round appetizer for two (or more!).
I like to call this Roasted Cherry Tomato Bruschetta the I just don’t care appetizer. Don’t get me wrong; it’s delicious and addicting. This appetizer also happens to be incredibly forgiving. It is adaptable to any size dish, makes out-of-season tomatoes taste delicious, and has ooey-gooey cheese that encapsulates bursting tomatoes. It’s perfect.
This appetizer is by no means authentic Italian bruschetta. In fact, I debated whether to call it bruschetta at all. That’s not the point. It makes you look like rockstar when someone unexpectedly stops by. It’s for the holiday season when you want to bring an appetizer and don’t want to bring a standard dip (again). It’s for the dinner party you forgot about. It’s a lifesaver. In bruschetta form.
HOW TO MAKE ROASTED CHERRY TOMATO BRUSCHETTA
- Lightly coat the bottom of the baking dish with olive oil. Add the sliced garlic cloves.
- Add the cherry tomatoes and a pinch of salt to the pan. Toss to coat.
- Add havarti cheese in the center of the baking pan.
- Bake until tomatoes are bursting open and cheese is melted.
- Broil on high until the tomatoes and cheese blister on top
- Slice the bread and brush with olive oil.
- Place the roasted tomato mixture on top of the toasted bread slices and serve.
POSSIBLE SUBSTITUTIONS AND ADDITIONS
HAVARTI CHEESE. Fontina cheese also works great or skip the cheese altogether for some garlicky roasted tomatoes.
BASIL. If you have basil on hand, it’s a wonderful addition here. Add it as a finishing touch after the tomatoes are finished broiling.
TIPS FOR MAKING EXCELLENT CHERRY TOMATO BRUSCHETTA
BAKING DISH SIZE. Don’t fuss about the baking dish size. Rather, focus on finding a baking dish that snuggly fits the cheese and tomatoes. Feel free to increase or decrease the amount of tomatoes and cheese to fit the pan size you have available.
OLIVE OIL. The taste of olive oil really shines in this recipe! I highly recommend you taste your olive oil before using it to ensure it isn’t rancid and you like the taste of it plain. This is also an excellent opportunity to try any infused olive oils such as basil or peperoncino
CHERRY TOMATOES. I recommend cutting large cherry tomatoes in half so they roast at the same rate as smaller cherry tomatoes and are releasing juices after 20-minutes of roasting.
TOASTED BREAD. Bruschetta is a great way to use up 1 or 2 day old bread since it soaks up the olive oil and tomato juices. Yum.
MAKE AHEAD. You can make the roasted tomatoes and cheese a day ahead of time. Reheat at 350°F until the warm and the cheese is completely melted. Toast the bread and assemble the bruschetta right before serving.
More Italian Recipes to Try
PrintRoasted Cherry Tomato Bruschetta
This Oven-Roasted Cherry Tomato Bruschetta bursts with juicy tomatoes, garlic, and melted Havarti cheese on top of a crispy baguette. The perfect year-round appetizer for two (or more!). Please note: I doubled the recipe in the pictures.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
For the tomatoes:
- Glug of olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the baking dish
- 5 ounces (150g) cherry tomatoes, cut in half if large
- 2–3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 2.5 ounces (67g) block of havarti cheese
- sprinkle of kosher salt
- crushed red pepper flakes, optional
For the bruschetta:
- 1/2 baguette (French bread)
- olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and a second rack at the top of the oven (the highest it will go).
- Prepare the tomatoes. Lightly coat the bottom of a 6-inch skillet or small baking dish with olive oil. Add the tomatoes, garlic, and red pepper flakes, if using. Lightly sprinkle the tomato mixture with kosher salt. Toss to coat. Place the block of havarti cheese in the center of the skillet or baking dish.
- Bake the tomatoes. Bake until the cheese is completely melted and the tomatoes release juices, about 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, move the skillet or baking dish to the top rack and switch the oven to the broiler setting. Broil on high until the tomatoes and cheese blister on top, about 5 minutes.
- Slice the bread. Meanwhile, slice the baguette on the diagonal into slices 1/2-inch wide. Place the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and lightly brush both sides of each slice with olive oil.
- Toast the bread. While the tomato mixture broils, place the baking sheet on the lowest oven rack and bake the bread slices until crisp and golden on top, about 2-3 minutes. Keep an eye on the bread the entire time to prevent it from burning.
- Assemble. Top each toast with the warm tomato mixture. Serve the Bruschetta promptly.
Notes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 servings
- Calories: 279 calories
- Sugar: 4g
- Sodium: 518mg
- Fat: 15.6g
- Saturated Fat: 8.3g
- Carbohydrates: 23.1g
- Fiber: 1.7g
- Protein: 13.4g
- Cholesterol: 38mg
Keywords: cherry tomato bruschetta, cherry tomato appetizer
As easy as described and more delicious than anticipated!
So happy to hear 😊