Crostini

Crostini, a sister dish to bruschetta, is another treat of the Italian cuisine, which are served as appetizers.

Crostini itself are slices of toasted French baguette seasoned with olive oil and salt and pepper. But what makes it incredibly delicious, are the toppings you add to them. There are a plethora of different toppings people put on the crostini all around the world.

This recipe includes a basic crostini along with 5 topping options, all easy to make and incredibly tasty in their own way.

Health Benefits

The toasted bread is a good source of carbohydrates and dietary fiber that helps in easy digestion. The nutrition can vary from the toppings you put on the crostini.

Different cheeses, meats and vegetables, all add various vitamins and minerals to the simple crostini.

Calories per serving: 100-200 Kcal (varying with different toppings)

Ingredients

baguette (10-ounces): 1

cup olive oil: 3/4

coarse salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

crostini bread (as many servings as you like)

store-bought pesto sauce

slices of Italian sun-dried tomatoes

salt and pepper if desired

crostini

smoked salmon

Cream cheese

fresh dill

crostini

plain goat cheese

prosciutto

fig jam

crostini

thinly sliced fresh or canned pears

thinly sliced blue cheese

Honey

crostini

plum tomatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

fresh mozzarella

fresh basil

How To Make Crostini

1. Preheat the oven to 350 f/175 C and cut the baguette into 60 slices, 1/4^th inch thick.
2. Brush both sides of bread slices with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and lay them on a baking tray.
3. Bake the crostinis for 15-20 minutes. Remember to flip them on their other sides halfway.

Take them out of the oven and let them cool down.

1. Spread 1-2 tsp of pesto sauce on one side of the crostini.
2. Then layer 3-4 slices of sun-dried tomatoes on top and season with little amount of salt and pepper.

If you like you can slices of fresh mozzarella before the sundried tomatoes. And serve.

1. Cut the smoked salmon into thin slices and keep aside.
2. Spread 1-2 tsp. of cream cheese on one side of the crostini

To each crostini with slices of smoked salmon, sprinkle fresh dill and serve.

1. Separate the slices of prosciutto from the wrappers and keep aside.
2. Spread 1-2 tsp. of goat cheese on the crostini.

Add 1 tsp. of fig jam on the goat cheese, lay 1 thin slice of prosciutto on top and serve.

1. Layer 3-4 thin slices of pears on the crostini and drizzle 1 tsp. of honey over it.
2. Add 1-2 thin slices of blue cheese on top and serve.

You can also add chopped walnuts on top if you like.

1. Seed and thinly slice the tomatoes and add them to a bowl. Pour enough olive oil to coat the tomatoes, sprinkle salt and pepper and mix well.
2. Slice the mozzarella into thin slices and layer them on crostini.
3. Top mozzarella with 3-4 slices of tomatoes and garnish with 1 leaf of basil on top.

Trivia

• Crostini is the plural of crostino, which is an Italian word that means “little crusts.”

Crostini like bruschetta originated in the medieval times, when the peasants in Italy used to eat on slices of bread because they weren’t allowed ceramics.