I love bruschetta!!!  I mean seriously, toasted bread with tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil and balsamic?  How could it get any better?  Oh it can, it really can….or at least different.

As you all know by now, I spend 60% of my time on the road, which means I eat in a lot of restaurants…….a lot.  One of the definite upsides to this lifestyle is getting to see the creativity of chefs around the country.  This particular recipe was inspired by a little place in Fort Lauderdale called Coconuts and the fact that both my fridge and freezer needed to get cleaned out this weekend.

The last time I was there they had a special  of vegetable pesto bruschetta.  Weird part for this story is I did not even try it (I did try the grilled Oysters – which were amazeballs) but the dish stuck with me and I have regretted it ever since!!  That is what made me realize I needed to serve more things on grilled bread.  So when I realized that I needed to use the frozen edamame and that there was no way the baby spinach was making it through the week, I knew what I had to make!!

Now I judge my culinary success by the reaction of my wife.  When she looked at me and emphatically said:

“You have to write that one down” – Joy Bowen

I knew I had a winner.  And now so do you.

Saute’d Spinach and Edamame Pesto Bruchetta

Prep time:           10 minutes

Cook time:          5 minutes

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbs Olive Oil (separated)
• ½ cup frozen shelled edamame
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 pinches of salt (separated)
• ½ Tbs red wine vinegar
• ½ Tbs Pine Nuts
• 2 Sourdough loaf of French bread

Directions:

• Add edamame, 2 Tbs olive oil, garlic and a pinch of salt to small food processor and blend until paste like consistency. Can be used immediately but for best results let marry for 10-20 minutes at room temperature (especially if using still frozen edamame).
• Cut bread on the diagonal in ¾ inch thick slices.
• Oil one side of the bread slices and toast on a grill or grill pan to desired doneness (can also be done in the broiler).
• In a medium sauté pan, heat remaining oil over medium-high heat and toast pine nuts, stirring regularly to toast evenly (appx 3-4 minutes)
• Add spinach, salt and vinegar to pan and sauté until spinach is wilted (appx 3-4 minutes)
• Smear edamame pesto on to slices of sourdough bread
• Top with generous amount of wilted spinach and pine nuts.
• Serve immediately…..try not to drool.