Simple Bruschetta (3 Ways): This is the very best time of year to make bruschetta. It's late summer and tomatoes are vivid and ripe, saturated with flavor. Good tomatoes are the thing that matters most when it comes to making this classic, open-faced Italian antipasto. This is such a simple preparation it means paying attention to the little details matters.

Marcella Hazan says, "the name bruschetta comes from bruscare, which means "to roast over coals" the original and still the best way of toasting the bread." She calls for Italian whole wheat bread (pane integrale) sliced 1-1/2 inches thick. In the A16: Food+Wine cookbook they note, "the word bruschetta, which is derived from bruciare, "to burn" implies that some charring on the bread is desirable." Let's assume both sources are right about the origins of the name bruschetta -- we want to grill our bread, and get a kiss of the burn you get from grilling. Today I'm going to talk through how I make my favorite bruschetta, and include a few simple variations as well.