White Bean Bruschetta

White Bean Bruschetta is a delicious spin on the classic appetizer! Loaded with flavor, toasty crostini is piled with roasted bell peppers, garlic, tomato, capers, fresh basil and white beans! It's great in the summer when tomato and basil are in season, but since the white beans are the main component, it's really an easy appetizer year round!

Why We Love It!

• Appetizer, Lunch or Dinner Side! - You'll love this White Bean Bruschetta for its heartiness and versatility! It makes a wonderful appetizer, but it's also a great meal prep lunch addition, or a perfect dinner side dish with grilled sausage, chicken, or fish! This bruschetta is healthy and satisfying, bursting with garden fresh summer flavor, but is equally delicious all year!

• If you love this white bean appetizer, check out my Cherry Tomato Bruschetta and my Cherry Tomato Pico de Gallo!

Ingredients

• Bell Pepper - You can use a red, yellow or orange bell pepper for this recipe. Roasting your own bell pepper and garlic is easy and adds tremendous flavor to these bruschetta bites. In a pinch, you could also use store-bought roasted red peppers from a jar.

• Garlic - Roasting a clove of garlic along with the bell pepper really transforms raw garlic into an entirely new flavor. It's absolutely delicious! A clove of roasted garlic is soft enough to smash into a paste before mixing into the bruschetta.

• White beans - A can of white beans adds protein and extra nutrition to the standard tomato bruschetta. That makes this bruschetta healthy and hearty enough for a dinner side dish or even a lunch. You can use any type of white beans such as great northern, navy or cannellini. I always drain and rinse canned beans.

• Cherry Tomatoes - Of course, garden fresh summer tomatoes are going to give you the best flavor. But, since this bruschetta has so many other flavor components, making it in the winter with grocery store tomatoes is just fine too! Really any kind of chopped tomatoes will work for this recipe.

• Capers - Capers add a salty, briny, tangy flavor. If you don't have them or don't like them, you can leave them out.

• Onion - A few thin slices of onion give you a little sharpness in each bite. A yellow or red onion is fine, or if you're not an onion person, you can omit them or use a milder shallot or a few sliced scallions.

• Olive Oil - Olive oil dresses the ingredients and brings everything together.

• Red Wine Vinegar - Adds a tangy acidity to the bruschetta.

• Fresh Basil - Garden basil adds a bright freshness, classic in bruschetta. Again, this recipe is delicious no matter the season, so a store-bought pack of basil in the winter is fine too! Fresh parsley, rosemary or oregano would be fine substitutes giving you a slightly different taste.

• Salt and Pepper - The very basic salt and pepper seasonings bring out the bold flavors of all your ingredients.

• Baguette - I like to slice a baguette at an angle for the perfect carrier to pile on the bruschetta topping! Drizzle the slices with a bit of olive oil and toast them until they are crispy crostini, or you can cook them on the summer grill if you've got it going. Any sliced French or Italian bread is also fine, cut into serving sized pieces for perfect bruschetta bites.

• Parmesan cheese - I like to buy a wedge of Parmesan cheese and shave big pieces with a vegetable peeler. Shredded, or any form of store-bought Parmesan is also fine.

Instructions

Step 1 - White Bean Bruschetta starts by roasting a bell pepper and a clove of garlic.  You could use roasted red peppers from a jar, but while this sounds tricky, it's really very easy!  Set your oven to high broil, and set a whole bell pepper and whole clove of garlic in its skin on a sheet tray.  Drizzle them with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper and broil about 10 to 20  minutes, depending on your oven.  Rotate the pepper a few times with tongs until the skin starts to char on all sides.  Remove the pan from the oven and let it sit while you assemble the other ingredients.  The pepper will "deflate" as it sits. 

Step 2 - Meanwhile, combine all your other ingredients in a mixing bowl.  When the pepper is slightly cooled, peel off the charred skin as best you can, but don't worry if you can't, it's totally edible.  Discard the stem and seeds and slice it.  Do not rinse it, you will lose the delicious oils!  Remove the garlic's skin and smash and mince it.  Add both to the bowl, including any oils that may be on the pan. 

Step 3 - Slice a baguette and add it to the pan that you roasted the pepper on, drizzle and toss it with olive oil.  Add the pan back to the oven to broil the bread a few minutes, flipping once, until toasted and charred. 

Step 4 - Serve the bruschetta in a bowl surrounded by the toasted crostini on a plate and let guests spoon the mixture onto their bread. Or, top the charred bread with the bruschetta and serve on a platter with the shaved Parmesan.

Tips

• The bruschetta can be served warm, cold or somewhere in between. The heat from the roasted pepper gives it a nice contrast, but refrigerating the whole mixture and serving it cold is fine too. Make your toasted crostini bread just before serving, it's best served hot.

• Storage - Store leftover bruschetta separately from the bread in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 days.  Store extra bread in an airtight container on the counter, or toast more fresh for the leftovers.  

• Make Ahead Instructions - The bruschetta mixture can be made ahead and kept in the fridge up to a day in advance. It's best if you can toast the baguette just before serving. While this white bean crostini makes a great appetizer, its hearty enough to be a side dish on its own. Try it with summer grilled chicken or sausage links!

More Favorite Appetizers!

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