E is for Even More Crostini

Crostini might just be the best thing to have ever been created. I’m not kidding. A crunchy base of bread, infused with garlic and olive oil, topped off with whatever combination of fresh ingredients you can think of. You might’ve noticed the terms bruschetta and crostini being interchanged, although technically they are different. Crostini are typically round breads, smaller, and with a less elaborate topping. Bruschetta are larger, and could be served as lunch. Personally, I always use ciabatta bread, and serve the crostini as a starter, if you want to serve them as lunch, just pick a larger type of bread.

These are my favourites:

The traditional Bruschetta topping of ripe tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, and extra vergin olive oil. Find the recipe here.

Quality buffalo mozzarella topped with red chilli pepper (warning: they are red hot! Lame joke, I’m sorry)Prosciutto with homemade red onion compote, which is the perfect combination between sweet and savoury.

Crostini

Servings: 3 per person
Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

125 grams buffalo mozzarella
1 red pepper
75 grams prosciutto
2 red onions
50 grams butter
50 grams sugar (regular)
2 dl red wine
1 loaf of ciabatta (can be older)
Extra vergin olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves

Used kitchen appliances

Large frying pan
Grill
Roster

Preparation

Heat the butter in the pan. Slice the onions in rings and add to the butter. Stir until the onions are glossy.
Add the sugar and stir. Let the sugar caramelize (the onions just need to get thicker, and the sugar has to be dissolved).
Pour in the wine. Bring to a low heat, and let simmer for at least 1 hour.
In the meantime, pre-heat your grill to about 200C (390F).
Halve the peppers, and remove the seeds. Chop finely.
Slice the ciabatta in even pieces. Pour over a bit of olive oil. Peel the skin off the garlic clove.
Place the bread on the roster, and let it grill for about 4 minutes or until the olive oil has seeped into the bread.
Take the roster from the grill, and stroke the bread with the garlic clove, so the flavours get into the bread.
Finish the crostini:
Place some mozzarella on a bread slice, top with the pepper, pour over a bit of oil. Season to taste.
Cover the bread with a slice of prosciutto. Top off with the red onion compote.