31 March, 2014

Blue Cheese and Apricot Crostini

Comments : 3 Posted in : Party Favorites, Side Dish on March 31, 2014 by : Cook Plate Fork Tags: Cheese, Crostini, Gorgonzola, Italian cuisine, Olive oil, Oven, Phaseolus vulgaris, Toast

 

Crostini is a popular Italian appetizer that features thin slices of toasted bread served plain or topped with a wide range of  toppings.

What you will need is simple really, one loaf of  multi-grain baguette and extra virgin olive oil. The toppings I used are blue cheese, apricot jam, purple grapes and parsley.

6 oz. container of blue cheese

1 cup apricot jam

1/4 cup of purple grapes or about a hand full, slicing grapes in half

4 sprigs of parsley, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the baguette into ¼-inch slices and arrange on a baking sheet. Brush each slice with olive oil and toast in the preheated oven until golden brown.  You may need to turn the baking sheet or flip the slices to get uniform results.

Remove from oven and top with chunks of blue cheese, apricot jam, grape slices and chopped parsley.

Other topping choices you have are:

 Gorgonzola, Walnuts & Honey

6 oz. Gorgonzola cheese

¼ cup walnuts, chopped

Honey for drizzling

Divide Gorgonzola and chopped walnuts among toasted bread slices. Put back in the oven at 350˚ until the cheese melts, approximately 1 – 2 minutes. Drizzle each crostini with a small amount of honey.

You could substitute nuts for pecans and gorgonzola for goat cheese.

 

White Beans with Sage

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 (15 oz.) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons really good extra virgin olive oil, plus additional for drizzling

Salt and pepper, to taste

¼ cup fresh sage, washed and finely chopped

Add garlic, cannellini beans, lemon juice and olive oil to food processor and pulse until mixture is coarsely combined. If necessary, add more olive oil to achieve the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Stir in chopped sage until evenly distributed throughout mixture.  Spoon on top of toasted bread slices and drizzle with olive oil.

 

What Others are Saying About Crostini:

• Making Crostini
• Four Wheat-free Crostini
• Pear and Gorgonzola crostini.
• Stilton-Pear Crostini
• Crostini alla Mozzarella
• Jovina Coughlin posted blog posts
• Easy Toaster Oven Garlic Crostini
• Blueberry Crostini
• Salami Crostini
• Rustic Polenta Crostini