Bruschetta

Rinse the tomatoes and cut them into quarters, or halves if using cherry tomatoes. Remove as much of the seeds and watery interior as possible. Dice the tomato flesh into roughly 1/4-inch pieces. An easy way to do this is to start at one point of each tomato piece, slice off a small amount, rotate the tomato, and repeat until the entire piece is diced.

Place the diced tomatoes in a stainless-steel or plastic colander (see note) set over a bowl and sprinkle evenly with 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Gently stir the tomatoes so the salt is evenly distributed. Loosely cover the colander and allow the tomatoes to drain for 3 hours. Once per hour, gently stir the tomatoes and discard the liquid that has collected in the bowl.

Place the peeled garlic cloves in a small saucepan and add enough olive oil to completely cover them. Set over low heat and warm gently until you see just a few small bubbles forming around the garlic. Keep the heat low—we are slowly cooking the garlic and infusing the oil, not frying it (see note). Cook for 30–40 minutes, or until the garlic is completely tender.

Slice the baguette (see note) thinly on an angle to create long, elongated slices. Toast until crisp and nicely browned around the edges.

Stack the rinsed and thoroughly dried basil leaves, then roll them tightly lengthwise into a cigar shape. Using a very sharp knife (see note), slice the roll crosswise into very thin ribbons. Let the ribbons unfurl, then give the pile a few additional cuts so there are not any excessively long pieces.

Pile the tomatoes generously onto each piece of toasted bread. Drizzle with a healthy dose of the garlic-infused olive oil, sprinkle with good crunchy sea salt, such as Maldon, and top with a little of the chiffonade basil. Serve immediately.