Bruschetta with grilled pepper, courgette and parmesan

The first month of the British summer was a bit of a downer with its incessant rain and grey skies. Now it seems the weather is trying to catch up on all the missed sunshine but today we are suffering from enjoying a heatwave. Slap on your sunscreen, you'll definitely need it. After a walk in town I came home, feeling that I am melting, just melting. With this weather who wants a heavy lunch?
Bruschetta with grilled vegetables sounds like a sensible option. Very tasty too.
Bruschetta is a type of antipasti, popular in Italy. It is made with grilled bread, which has been rubbed with garlic and olive bread and topped with grilled tomatoes or other vegetables.

Recently Lyle's has created a series of summer recipes including the recipe for char-cooked courgette and pepper bruschetta.
The addition of the black treacle to the glaze for bread creates an inspired twist on the classic recipe. The sweetness of the treacle works well with the saltiness of parmesan and earthy flavours of courgette and pepper.
In fact, it was so delicious, that I'm going to make it again very soon.

Char-cooked Courgette and Pepper Bruschetta (recipe courtesy of Lyle's)
Ingredients:
1tbsp Lyle's Black Treacle
3tbsp olive oil
2tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 thick slices of sourdough or rustic-style bread
2 large courgettes, sliced diagonally
200g roasted peppers (from a jar, drained) or 1 grilled sweet pepper
few shaves of Parmesan cheese
freshly ground black pepper
basil or parsley sprigs, to garnish (optional)

Preheat a char-grill pan or the grill
Mix together the Lyle's Black Treacle, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic. Lightly brush the slices of bread with this mixture, then char-grill or grill the bread on both sides.
Brush the courgette slices with the glaze and char-grill or grill them until tender (about 1 minute per side). Arrange them on the slices of bread with torn-up strips of roasted pepper.
Finish off with shaves of Parmesan cheese, a little black pepper and some basil leaves or parsley sprigs. Drizzle with the remaining glaze, then serve.

Cook's tip: Char-grill or grill 4 small bunches of cherry tomatoes on the vine and serve them on top of the bruschetta, if you like.

I have sliced a sweet pepper and grilled it with a bit of olive oil and sea salt to use in this recipe, but buying a jar of already roasted peppers will save you time.

Disclosure: I received a couple of tins of treacle, some BBQ utensils and a supermarket gift card to buy the ingredients and recreate the recipe for testing. All opinions are mine.