Bruschetta, hold the toast...

[T.G]

... 'cuz I'm using fried salami.


Yeah. So simple it's criminal.

This idea hit me the other day when I had to make some appetizers and was trying to be paleo friendly for one of the people who would be eating it.

Ended up working out so well that I might never go back to serving bruschetta on toast again.


Get a big bag of sliced salami, I happened to have a bag of Aidell's uncured sun dried tomato and garlic salami handy so I used it, but really, any brand that you like which isn't too fatty will probably work fine. You could even use large diameter thin-sliced pepperoni if you wanted.

Make up some bruschetta styled topping. Do it how ever you like it. I went with halved cherry tomatoes, diced red onion, chopped flat-leaf parsley, chopped mushrooms, seeded & diced jalapenos, avocado chunks (to add some creaminess to counteract the bite of the salami), oregano, thyme, salt, fresh-cracked pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and citric acid. Feel free to use things like cored and seeded diced roma tomatoes, beans, basil, sliced pepperoncini peppers, fire roasted fresh corn, whatever you like in this pretty much works.

Preheat the oven to 325. Take a quarter sheet pan (cookie sheet) and cover in foil or baking parchment. Lay out the slices of salami or pepperoni in a single layer. Use two sheets if you need too (you will). Put the trays in the oven and set a timer for 6 minutes. After 6 minutes, rotate the trays 180 degrees and from that point on you need to keep an eye on them, they are going to cook quickly. Probably 9-12 minutes total cooking time. The edges of the salami/pepperoni will burn a bit, the centers will stay a bit soft and chewey, they'll curl up a bit like a bowl, this is all excellent. Crumbly around the edges is good. Crumbly the whole way across is bad.

As soon as they are done, remove from trays and drain & pat down with paper towels to remove the excess grease. Let the salami/pepperoni cool for a few minutes, this will allow it time to crisp up slightly. Lay out the cooked salami rounds on a serving tray, dished side up (like a little bowl) and put a spoonfull of the bruschetta type topping on each.

Serve and watch them vanish when you tell people "yeah, it's fried salami (pepperoni)".


Sorry for the crappy pictures.