Crostini Misti
This has become something of a lunchtime staple while on
holiday in Tuscany with a selection of beautifully simple salads. They also
work wonderfully as a starter or as part of a selection of canapés. They key is
to assemble just before serving so the bread doesn’t go soggy. I have written
down the recipes, if you can even call them recipes, for 3 of my favourite
combinations – beautifully ripe tomato and basil, deliciously earthy mushroom
and thyme, and the unusual fennel salami, finocchiona with rocket and parmesan.
You can get finocchiona from Asda
(which I haven’t yet tried) as well as specialist delicatessens such as Salvino, our favourite Italian shop on
Brecknock Road near Kentish Town
As I understand it, the difference between bruschetta and
crostini is that crostini tend to be made with finer textured bread, like a
baguette, and to be smaller in portion size. I only had a white loaf to use so
perhaps what I made would technically be called bruschetta but there doesn’t
seem to be such
For the bread
24 small pieces of good quality bread – around the size of a
slice of a small baguette and around 7.5mm thick (just under a centimetre)
4 cloves of garlic, sliced into thin pieces
Extra virgin olive oil
Cover a baking dish with a thin layer of oil and rub the garlic around in it. Rub each side of the bread pieces around so they get a nice golden covering.
Heat up a griddle pan if you have one and toast the bread on each side so you get those attractive, and delicious, dark brown griddle lines across them
Otherwise grill each side in the oven, watching carefully so that they don’t burn
Put aside until needed
Tomato Crostini, 8
pieces
4 large plum tomatoes
½ clove of garlic, crushed
20 leaves of basil, torn up or sliced roughly
Salt
Pepper
1 dessertspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
With such a simple dish it is important to get
delicious, ripe tomatoes of any variety. You can use my quantities as a
guideline and apply them to different tomato sizes
Slice your tomatoes lengthways and scoop the seeds out using your fingers. Discard the seeds
Dice your tomatoes into small pieces around 7.5mm by 7.5mm
Squeeze out any remaining liquid and place in a bowl with the crushed garlic, basil, salt, pepper, oil and lemon
Leave until ready to assemble
Mushroom Crostini, 8
pieces
1 pack of mushrooms, 300g
1 clove of garlic
8 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked (otherwise sage is
delicious, or parsley)
Olive oil
A small teacup full of wine (no need to be very precise)
Salt
Pepper
Choose a mushroom variety you like, or a mix.
Even those basic white mushrooms are delicious in this (also, remember that
they shrink a lot when cooked)
Clean your mushrooms but try not to get them wet since this can wash away flavour
Dice them into small pieces of around 1cm by 1cm
Dice your garlic into small pieces
Heat up oil in a pan and add the garlic for a minute but don’t let it colour – take it off the heat for a bit if need be.
Add the mushrooms and thyme and stir around for a couple of minutes
Add the seasoning and wine and stir until all the liquid has evaporated
Taste to see if they are the right texture for you and if not, cook for a little longer
When ready, take off the heat and put aside until needed
Finocchiona, Pecorino and Rocket Crostini, 8 pieces
8 pieces of very finely sliced finocchiona
16 large pecorino shavings, shaved of a piece of mature, dry
parmesan with a knife
A couple of handfuls of rocket
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
Black Pepper
All you do is neatly arrange the finochiona on
the bread, with rocket and a parmesan shaving on top and a final light drizzle
of olive oil and sprinkle of pepper. Simple!
