One of my favorite Saturday hangover breakfasts. Chopped cherry tomatoes (or any tomato if they’re in season), chopped fresh basil, grated garlic, black pepper, salt. Tossed together and applied liberally to a toasted bagel with schmear. Topped with salami – fried into little crunchy bits of joy.
I’m not gonna lie to you, this recipe is best with ultra flavorful summer tomatoes, but cherry tomatoes do the trick in a pinch. Just don’t use out of season tomatoes, you really need that vibrant sweet-tangy tomato flavor for this to work.
As for cream cheese, I went with plain cause I have it around for baking, but you can go wild. A scallion cream cheese would probably slap. The salami chips are optional but addicting. Let me know if you make it!
Tomato-Basil Bagel with Salami Chips
- 1 Bagel, sliced in half
- Cream Cheese, to taste (as much as you want on your bagel)
- 1 small handful Cherry Tomatoes
- 4-5 Basil Leaves
- 1 small clove Garlic, grated on a microplane
- Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper*
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 2-3 pieces of Salami, finely chopped
- Toast your bagel if that’s your jam. A good quality bagel shouldn’t need it, but your average supermarket one could probably do with a pop in the toaster.
- Roughly chop your tomatoes. Thinly slice your basil. Add it to a bowl.
- Grate the garlic over the top, then season with salt, fresh ground black pepper, and . If you have sea salt flakes or something besides table salt, use it. The uneven structure of the salt crystals will give you pops of flavor as you eat, verses just seasoning everything evenly.
- Toss it all together and let it sit for a few minutes.
- While it sits, fire up a skillet and cook the salami until crispy.
- Top your bagel with schmear. The amount is up to you. I like my cream cheese levels to fall somewhere between “You’re not holding back, huh?” and “Wow, that’s a lot of cream cheese”.
- Load it up with the tomato basil mix. Top with the salami chips. Sprinkle with more flaked salt if desired. Enjoy!
*Notice how I bolded ‘Freshly Ground‘ Black Pepper in the ingredient list. That’s because pre-ground black pepper tastes like black pepper whispered into an ancient crypt. And for good reason – once the peppercorn is ground up, the flavorful oils start oxidizing immediately, not only dulling the spicy flavor but giving it a dusty, funky aftertaste. So do yourself a huge favor and invest in a proper pepper grinder – bonus points if it’s a refillable one. It will turn black pepper into a respectable member of your ingredient arsenal.
Baked with Lauren 