Recipe of the Week: Grilled Mozzarella Crostini

This recipe takes crostini, which means "little toasts," and jazzes them up by combining two pieces of toast to form grilled mini-sandwiches. Kind of a sophisticated grilled cheese, if you will.

These tasty little sandwiches are great as an appetizer or a meal in themselves, depending on how many you feel like eating.

GRILLED MOZZARELLA CROSTINI

1 loaf French baguette
8 ounces (standard block) mozzarella cheese (fresh mozzarella even better)
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, cayenne to taste
1 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
fresh chopped basil to garnish

Marinara sauce:
29 oz. can tomato sauce
½ sweet onion, small dice
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
¼ green bell pepper, small dice
1 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
½ tsp. red wine vinegar
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. granulated sugar
½ tsp. dried basil
½ tsp. dried marjoram
½ tsp. cracked black pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. kosher salt
Extra virgin olive oil to cook
 
1. Sweat onion and pepper with 1 tbsp. olive oil in medium saucepan over low heat. Once soft, combine remaining ingredients and simmer for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasonings to taste.

2. While sauce is cooking, slice baguette into 24 half-inch thick pieces. Slice mozzarella into 12 pieces approximately a quarter-inch thick and set aside. Prepare seasoned oil by whisking oil and spices in a small bowl. Brush oil liberally onto one side of each bread slice.

 

3. Assemble bread and cheese into 12 "sandwiches," oiled sides out, and grill or pan fry on non-stick surface over medium low heat. Cook 3 minutes each side, or until cheese is melted and bread is golden brown. Arrange two (or more) per plate and drizzle marinara sauce atop each. Garnish with parmigiana reggiano cheese and fresh basil.

(Perceptive folks will notice that I did not, in fact, use fresh basil in this picture. I forgot to tell my wife to pick it up while she was at the store, so I was relegated to the dried version. And yes, I realize it's just not the same.)

Serves 2-6.   

Note: You can simplify this recipe by eliminating the marinara sauce altogether and instead garnish the crostini with fresh diced tomatoes, seasoned as you like. Combined with the fresh cheese and basil, it would work well this way for a refreshing summer appetizer.

Comments

[BC]

How come the crap you bring to Happy Hour never looks like that!!

[Lisa D]

Link is up, my friend!