Yesterday I promised I would make something with black garlic and this delicious appetiser is the result of that promise. When I was in Japan, I tasted black garlic as part of a delicious bowl of tonkotsu ramen, but I wanted to do something a little different with these sticky black cloves. This recipe makes full use of the garlic’s complex sweet aroma and  combining it with ripe tomatoes and balsamic vinegar results in a sweet and umami flavour explosion. On top of that, extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil, crunchy sea salt and pan-fried ciabatta bread mean this could well be the best thing ever.

Since this is only an appetiser, we followed it up with a good plate of tuna and chervil conchiglie; an excellent combination!

Ingredients for 4 pieces of bruschetta:

4 diagonally sliced pieces of ciabatta bread

4 small or 2 medium vine tomatoes (make sure they are really ripe and sweet)

2 cloves of black garlic

refined olive oil (for frying)

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

sea salt

fresh basil

• Slice your bread diagonally to get long pieces, then shallow fry the slices in olive oil until both sides are golden brown and crispy.
• Spread each slice of ciabatta with 1/2 a clove of black garlic. This should be really easy since the black garlic is almost like a paste.

• Add the chopped tomatoes. Drizzle with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and some balsamic vinegar.
• Season with coarse sea salt,garnish with a few leaves of fresh basil and enjoy!