Crostini (no need 's' because crostini is already plural!) are 'little toasts' and is a type of Italian appetiser. From what I've seen, topping a crostini can go from adding cheese, vegetables, deli meat, smoked salmon and fruits. Serve this as fancy appetiser at parties?
Me practising Italian:
I crostini sono un tipo di antipasto italiano. Ho usato del fromaggio cremoso, ‘pie d’angloys’, salmone affumicato, pomodori, basilica, olive verdi e molti altri!
For my version of crostini, there are 3 versions of them.
Crostini no. 1 - cream cheese base topped with smoked salmon, dried apricots and fresh basil.
I'd say don't go hammm on the cream cheese so that it doesn't overwhelm all of the flavours in this crostini. The sweetness from the apricots balanced the flavours with the saltiness of the smoked salmon.
Crostini no. 2 - Pie d'Angloys base topped with roasted Capella vine tomatoes and fresh basil. These tomatoes were surprisingly sweet and it was a great contrast beside the saltiness of the pie d'Angloys.
Crostini no. 3 - Pie d'Angloys base topped with smoked salmon, roasted butternut squash, walnuts, green olives and fresh basil. Walnuts brought in more crunch to this crostini!
French baguette
Slice a french baguette about 0.5cm wide.
Spread olive oil on one side of the slice and toast them until they become golden and not too brown!
I grilled mine for 5 minutes at medium heat.
If you're baking them, bake for 3-4 minutes at medium heat.
Crostini bases
I used Pie D'angloys and cream cheese bases for the crostini.
The cream cheese I used!
Substitutes: mascarpone, ricotta and feta cheese
They will have a similar texture and the smell is not too strong.
Pie d’angloys is a cheese relative of French Camembert cheese. I do think it is slightly saltier than Camembert. It’s also quite creamy inside.
Substitutes: camembert cheese, brie
Tip: When baking the cheese, bake it separately from the vegetables as they can leak on to the vegetables. Put the cheese in separate baking dish. It melts very quickly when cut and not baked as a whole cheese so keep eyes on the oven!
Capella vine tomatoes
These are so pretty!
Substitutes: regular cherry tomatoes
Walnuts
Went all out with the walnuts and cracked open walnuts from their shells and they seemed lighter in colour (like caramel) compared to regular packaged walnuts that have already been cracked.
Feel free to use other types of nuts to replace the walnuts!
Balsamic vinegar
This makes the crostini an unexpected but excellent finish! This is optional but why not go all out with them!
Video version:
Total time:
This makes 12 crostini
1/2 french baguette (thinly sliced)
1/4 cup olive oil
25g smoked salmon (sliced, 3cm wide)
dried apricots (chopped)
8 capella vine tomatoes
50g butternut squash (chopped)
4 whole walnuts (chopped)
green olives (chopped)
16g basil (chopped)
40g cream cheese
50g pie d'Angloys
2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
(4 for each crostini customisation)
crostini no. 1
cream cheese
smoked salmon
dried apricots
fresh basil
crostini no. 2
Pie d'Angloys
roasted capella vine tomatoes
fresh basil
crostini no. 3
Pie d'Angloys
roasted butternut squash
walnuts
green olives
fresh basil
Method:
Preheat the oven at 170C and the grill at medium heat.
Slice a baguette and spread olive oil on one side of a slice. Grill on medium for 5 minutes, until they become golden but not too brown!
Mix Capella vine tomatoes with a teaspoon of olive oil, pinch of salt and pepper. Bake tomatoes and chopped butternut squash in the oven for 20 minutes. Bake Pie d'angloys for 5 minutes.
Spread cheese bases on crostini based for each type of crostini above. Drizzle balsamic vinegar on top of each crostini.
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