Crostini Two Ways: Goat Cheese, Fig & Prosciutto and Brie, Honey & Peach

If I had it my way, I’d do away with full meals and just live off of appetizers. Especially when I go out to eat with friends, we’re always just ordering wine and splitting a few appetizers, which is my ideal. I’m definitely of the “Variety is the Spice of Life” mentality when it comes to food, which is why my idea of a perfect Friday night involves my friends, some vino and a nice spread of apps. Whenever I throw a party, I’ve got my go-to appetizers down pat so you always know when you’re attending a Becca Shaw event, or even just a Friday night get together, you’ll leave happily full of delicious apps.

Another thing I believe strongly in, is that as you get older you should supplement all of your official blood-related aunts and uncles with additional aunts and uncles who can add new kinds of important value to your life. I’ve found that just continually adding the word “uncle” before people’s names that like I eventually leads everyone to accept the fact they are now related to me – i.e. Uncle Donnie, Uncle Jimmy, Uncle Bill, and so on. One of my favorite aunt/uncle pairs is my Auntie Carol and Uncle Jimmy, who I’ve learned a LOT from about cooking (from Uncle Jimmy) and drinking and shopping (from Auntie Carol).

Uncle Jimmy is the king of appetizers, bringing them to a new level you can’t even fathom. Whenever he comes over, you should juice cleanse a week before and invest in some serious stretch pants to prepare your body for all of the amazing food he is going to make. I’ve already started my preparation for his Cape trip in August. But one of my favorite appetizers that Uncle Jimmy made a few summers back was crostini. Really, anything that involves cheese, bread and prosciutto is okay in my book. Delicious recipes can be found at cooking blogs like https://www.mrswages.com/recipe/baked-brie-with-pepper-jelly/. Once I learned a basic crostini recipe, I’ve started experimenting with new combinations on my own. A few weeks ago I decided to make crostini for our Thursday-night bookclub (which involves minimal reading and maximum eating, drinking + gossip).

I picked up spreadable goat cheese and spreadable Brie from the store – though you can use regular types of both cheeses, I just find it makes it much easier to spread using the versions in the container. I paired the goat cheese, fig preserves and prosciutto for one crostini and on the other brie drizzled with honey and topped with a thin slice of fresh peach. Super easy, very quick, and huge crowd pleasers. 

Ingredients:

• 1 large fresh baguette
• Fig preserves
• Spreadable Goat Cheese
• 8 slices prosciutto
• Spreadable Brie Cheese
• Honey
• 1 fresh peach

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the baguette on a diagonal and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush lightly on one side with olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-12 minutes, just until the edges are lightly golden and toasted but not browned. Take out and set aside to cool. 

Step 2: For the first crostini, spread a thin layer of goat cheese covering at least 3/4 of the slice. Spread a dollop of fig preserve on top and then put 1/3 of a slice of prosciutto on top. 

Step 3: For the second crostini, spread a thin layer of brie cheese covering at least 3/4 of the slice. Drizzle a small amount of honey on top, and top with a very thin slice of peach. I recommend cutting the peach slice in half so that someone could easily bite into it without making a huge mess. 

And that’s it! Depending on how thin you slice the baguette, you can usually get at least 30 crostini pieces out of a loaf. Another great idea is to make a crostini bar for a party where you have a basket of toasted bread, and a few cheeses, jams/fig preserves, fruit and dried meats so that people can make their own. Whipped ricotta with honey is another great flavor, and when we were in Portland a few weeks ago we used freshly whipped goat cheese and topped it with fresh strawberries and a blackberry reduction drizzle. 

I’m thinking of changing the format of my blog posts up a bit – maybe doing a weekly recap in a separate email – like a This & That, or Random Thoughts kind of post – which might help me to increase the frequency of my recipe posts. Since sometimes I don’t have enough good things in a recap to post a recipe and other times I have too many photos from my week to include.  I think if I come up with a witty enough name for it then that’s what I’ll do, but still TBD. In the meantime, follow me on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with the latest Salted Cookie things!