Savor Simplicity with This Mushroom Bruschetta

This mushroom bruschetta (pronounced brew-sket-ta) makes for a perfect party canapé with an impressive amount of flavor packed into every bite-sized toast. Thats because each garlicky crostini is topped with a mixture of caramelized scallions and savory mushrooms glazed with balsamic vinegar. Because it uses so few ingredients, its important to use the best ones that you can find, including the mushrooms, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

While fake designer handbags may be relegated to shady underworld vendors hiding in the shadows of big cities, American supermarkets are filled with impostor balsamic vinegars. Like designer knock-offs, some manage to do a more convincing job than others, but unless it says Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena on the label, chances are youre getting red wine vinegar sweetened with corn syrup.

The reason the real stuff is so expensive is because it has to be aged for a minimum of 12 years. During the aging, the Maillard reaction develops new flavors, while evaporation concentrates them. Due to the amount of time it takes and the volume of vinegar thats lost due to evaporation, the older the vinegar is, the more expensive it tends to be. A good bottle of 12 year aged balsamic can be had for about $30 while a 100 year aged one will set you back $700+.

Im not saying you need to run out and buy a bottle of 100 year old vinegar for this dish (in fact Id discourage that), but the 12 year old stuff isnt crazy expensive and should last you for quite some time.

You can use any mix of mushrooms you like, but I like the combination of maitake, shiitake and shimeji for their texture, variety of shapes, and flavor. If you want to make this a little more rich, you can spread a little fresh ricotta on the crostini before topping with the mushrooms.