Your Bruschetta Is Nearly Perfect (But It Still Needs A Little Heat)

A mixture of sweetness from fresh tomato, tartness from balsamic vinegar, and savoriness from bread, oil, and basil, bruschetta is a simple appetizer. And it's one that truly sings on the tongue when executed perfectly. But that doesn't mean there isn't room to play around with the recipe.

An exciting addition to any bruschetta recipe is to add some heat, with hot honey being an excellent ingredient for such a purpose. First, the heat in hot honey is subtle, building over time as you eat more without becoming uncomfortable. This subtlety of heat is important for bruschetta since it's a delicate dish; too strong of anything can unbalance it.

Helping to maintain the balance is the light, extra sweetness from the honey, which pairs perfectly with the light sweetness of the tomato. It's this enhanced sweetness that helps shave off the edges of the capsaicin sensation so you can experience the heat's complexifying bloom without it becoming painful. This best-of-both-worlds combo is so popular that "swicy" is a common portmanteau. Finally, most hot honey includes vinegar, so the tartness of the balsamic doesn't get lost between the hot honey's additional sweetness and heat.

Before you add hot honey to your bruschetta, you need to pick one with the right mix of sweetness and heat. Mike's, for example, one of the most famous hot honey brands, offers regular and extra hot variations. You can also make your own by simmering honey and chilis that match your spice tolerance together. This is also an excellent time to add unique ingredients. Lemon juice has the acid and tang of vinegar but with a touch of citrus that's perfect for bruschetta, for example, or incorporate bruschetta-friendly herbal notes with a bouquet garni.

With a hot honey selected or made, the best method for adding some to your bruschetta is to mix it in with the rest of the ingredients. This ensures you can maintain the right balance of flavors, at least if you're tasting as you go as you should. Otherwise, you can drizzle some over a completed bruschetta or spread a bit on the bread before assembly. The former gives you a spike of sweetness and heat on the first bite that cedes quickly to your main flavors, while the latter, being hidden between the flavor-absorbing bread and flavor-bursting tomato, offers the subtlest effect.

Heat and hot honey aren't the only ways to customize your bruschetta. A simple addition, taking inspiration from a similar appetizer, tomato caprese, is cheese. Soft cheeses with subtler flavors, such as mozzarella, ricotta, and camembert, are best so they won't overpower the other flavors (and because they're easier to spread). Or, serve the toasted bread separate from the tomato mixture with a plate of burrata and mix and match the three to your stomach's content. Regardless of which cheese you choose, all are complemented by hot honey. 

You can also get a little wild with it and make a non-traditional bruschetta without tomatoes. Roasted red bell peppers are perfect for this because they have a similar sweet-and-savory taste, and it doesn't hurt that the colors match since you also eat with your eyes. Artichokes are similarly great substitutions because of an acid they contain called cynarin that makes things taste sweeter. Or, drop the pretense of savoriness and go full bore on the sweetness by using peaches, making the dish more of a dessert or after-dinner snack. If you go this route, though, you may want a spicier hot honey so the sweetness isn't cloying.