Fresh Tomato Basil Salsa

This salsa came about a few years back when my daughter and I spent most of the summer eating Margherita Pizza: a simple, summery combination of fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and loads of garlic, together with mozzarella cheese on a pizza crust. Two locations that come to mind, where we indulged in this pizza are Kill Devil Hills, NC – at Slice Pizzeria, and in Hoosick Falls, NY. There, Guiseppe’s Restaurant didn’t have a Margherita Pizza on the menu, but so intense was our craving that we had them add garlic and chopped tomatoes to a regular cheese pizza.

We had a hankering for that irresistible combo of basil, garlic and tomato all summer long, so much so that we decided to make a salsa out of it.

I wondered if we should refer to it as a bruschetta topping instead of a salsa. My daughter wisely pointed out that bruschetta topping is basically a salsa. And we really wanted to eat it in a frenzied manner with tortilla chips, like we would with any salsa. So I wondered no more: salsa it was, and we chopped away at the fresh ingredients.

Our concoction came together very quickly, and the air in the kitchen was saturated with the aroma of fresh garlic and chopped basil.

Sticking with the salsa theme, we ate it up rather quickly (embarrassingly quickly) on tortilla chips. The crisp and salty chip was a nice complement to the tomato basil salsa.

I have since discovered that it is also quite good with pita chips (also crisp and salty), or spread over little slices of baguette.

Better still, sprinkle a little mozzarella over the salsa-topped baguette, slip it under the broiler for a minute, and you will have little mini Margherita pizza bites!