On a recent trip to Porto, Portugal I frequented a 16th century chapel turned into a beautiful wine bar, Capela Incomum. The name means “uncommon chapel”. It’s perfectly situated at the bottom of a hill on a cobblestone street in the Cedofeita neighborhood. They have a wide selection of Portuguese wines and ports by the bottle or glass. On the menu of small plates to enjoy with your wine, was pumpkin bruschetta. Intrigued, I ordered and have been obsessed since.
Doce de Abóbora (Pumpkin Preserve) is plentiful across Portugal and traditionally eaten on toast with cream cheese for breakfast. They also pair it often with walnuts and queijo de cabra, a hard goat milks cheese from the region.
You can’t find this jam in the US and I needed a fix, so I made some. If I shared a jar with you keep it in the refrigerator for 2-3 months. See recipe below for how to prepare the bruschetta. Open a nice bottle of red wine and enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
Rustic bread – 1/2 inch slices
Olive oil
Manchego cheese, or any goat/sheeps milk cheese, sliced
Pumpkin Jam
Walnuts, toasted
Arugula
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Brush bread slices with olive oil, place on baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until toasted. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
Top the slices of bread with the sliced cheese, plenty of pumpkin jam and sprinkle toasted walnuts on top. Garnish with arugula.