Yield: as an appetizer, 4-6 servings
Ingredients:
For the Bruschetta
1 each *rustic bread loaf from your favorite bakery, and cut 4-6 each 3/4″ inch thick slices *(ciabatta or pain au levain)
1 each garlic clove (peeled)
2-3 Tbsp Clif Family Kitchen extra virgin olive oil (to brush both sides of bruschetta)
BWF Ricotta mixture
1 cup Bellwether Farms Whole milk ricotta
2 Tbsp grated parmesan
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp+ freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ tsp finely milled black peppercorn
½ tsp sea salt
Wilted Winter Greens
4 Tbsp Clif Family Kitchen extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp garlic, minced or sliced thinly
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups kale, washed and cut into smaller pieces 1″ x 1″
2 cups spigarello, washed and sliced into a 1/2″ chiffonade
2 cups broccoli rabe, washed and sliced into a 1/2″ chiffonade
to taste sea salt
Soft-boiled Eggs, 8.5 minutes
6 each organic eggs
To Assemble:
to taste ricotta, about 3 TBSP per bruschetta
to taste wilted greens, held warm
1 each egg, sliced and shingled on top of wilted greens
to taste radish, sliced thin
to taste Clif Family Kitchen Classic Hazelnut Dukkah
to garnish Clif Family Kitchen extra virgin olive oil
Method:
Begin by bringing a small pot of water to a boil. Temper the six eggs while you are waiting for the water to boil. Once the water is boiling, carefully lower the eggs into the water and cook for exactly 8 minutes and 30 seconds. While eggs are cooking, prepare an ice bath to shock the eggs and prevent them from over cooking. Once timer has sounded, remove the eggs from the pot and lower into ice bath. Let cool for at least ten minutes and carefully peel. Once peeled, use an egg slicer to slice and set slices aside for later use.
To prepare the greens, wash and cut, mixing all of the greens together as they will cook together. Carefully strain as much liquid off the greens as possible. This may be done the day prior. Use a large sauté pan and add the olive oil, garlic and chili flakes. Begin to heat the pan over high heat until the garlic begins to brown, but not burned. Add the greens one handful at a time to stop the browning of the garlic. Once the greens are added to the pan, continue to stir until they wilt. Season with salt to taste and cook until tender and set aside.
To begin making the bruschetta, preheat a grill-pan or griddle. While the pan is being heated, prepare the ricotta mixture. Brush both sides of sliced bread with a liberal amount of olive oil and begin to grill the bread. The idea is that the bread is crispy on the surface of which the olive oil will allow the bread to grill nicely while the interior of the bread still maintains it’s chew. So once again, outside crispy, inside soft and chewy. This is why you want to use great bread and slice each piece thick enough to achieve this. Once the bread is nicely toasted on both sides and especially while still warm, brush one side with the cleaned clove of garlic. If your bread has that crispy edge, the bread will act as a grater to allow the garlic to be smeared inside the bread. Be cautious because the smell alone stimulates early appetite. Once all bread has been toasted and rubbed with garlic set aside. If you are planning to serve right away, keep bread as hot as possible for best flavor results. Otherwise, you may reheat the bread in an oven to refresh before serving.
Top with a liberal amount of ricotta from end to end. Add about half of the same amount of the wilted greens and shingle the slices of eggs and radish slices over the greens for complete coverage of the bruschetta. Lastly, scatter a good pinch of Clif Family Kitchen Classic Hazelnut Dukkah over the bruschetta. *Optional, apply a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. If serving to several people, cut the bruschetta after topped and transfer to serving dish. Or, if your company is anything like my family, the bruschetta are devoured from the cutting board.
Mangia!
Chef John