Bargain Bruschetta

More bruschetta than bread?

Traditionally more of an appetiser, I like to double up and have these as a proper meal with a bit of salad and mozzarella (if I'm lucky). There are lots of ways to save money here too.

Ingredients:
Old bread - I had half a stale French stick that was perfect
Tomatoes - if using whole/ salad tomatoes, budget for about 1 tomato/ slice (I used 3 anaemic salad tomatoes + 5 squishy cherry tomatoes). I reckon you could use tinned tomatoes here if you strained off the liquid
1 small onion - red is better, but if you only have brown then go with that
1tbsp tomato puree if available
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Splash of oil (olive is better), about 1tbsp
Splash of vinegar (balsamic is better, but malt will do)
Basil - dried is OK but fresh is a lot better

My basil plant passes through a death/ regeneration cycle once a week when I remember to water it

Quantity variable - 1/2 a French stick gives about 8 slices

Method:
1) Slice up the bread and lay out on a baking tray. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C
2) Roughly chop up the tomatoes. I like to leave a couple of larger chunks in there too, and I'm not fussy about the seeds. Feel free to take them out if you are
3) Finely chop the onion (a mini food-processor is perfect if you have one)
4) Stir the tomato and onion together in a small bowl. Add the tomato puree if your tomatoes were a less-than-vibrant red like mine
5) Mince the garlic into the bowl
6) Add the oil and vinegar and stir so everything is evenly distributed
7) Scoop the mixture onto the bread. Sprinkle basil over the top if using dried
8) Cook for 10-15 mins. Add the basil leaf after if using fresh

Budget:
Tomatoes = 50p
Onion = 8p
Tomato puree = 5p
Garlic = 5p
Oil = 4p
Vinegar = 5p
Basil = 2p if dried, less if fresh. I grow mine from a pot I got for £1, and it's given me >50 leaves so far
Total = 80p, 13p/ person if one each as an appetiser, 40p/ person if as a whole meal