These are super delicious, small crostini (or bruschetta if you prefer) with fried baguette slices and homemade stracciatella. This is topped with cherry tomatoes that are oven-baked with garlic and olive oil.

Lovely aperitivo!

Ingredients:

Crispy toast:
♥ 1 baguette
♥ 50 g butter

Homemade stracciatella:
♥ 3 balls mozzarella (see tips)
♥ 1–2 dl heavy cream (see tips)
♥ 0.5 tsp flaky salt

Oven-baked tomatoes:
♥ 200 g cherry tomatoes
♥ 5 cloves garlic
♥ 1 dl olive oil
♥ ground salt and pepper

Decoration:
♥ fresh basil

Instructions:

Crispy toast:

Slice the baguette into slices (about 1 cm thick). Spread butter on both sides.

Place the buttered baguette slices on a baking sheet.

Bake the slices in the middle of the oven at 200°C for about 10 minutes, or until you see they are golden and crispy. Let them cool until cold.

Homemade stracciatella (see separate post HERE):

Drain the water from the mozzarella.

Tear the cheeses into pieces and place in a bowl. Add the cream and flaky salt. Mix well with a fork.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably longer.

Oven-baked tomatoes (see separate post HERE):

Place the cherry tomatoes in a small, ovenproof dish.

Slice the garlic cloves and sprinkle over. Add olive oil and mix. Grind salt and pepper over.

Place the dish in the middle of the oven at 180°C and let the tomatoes bake in the oil for about 30 minutes.

Take the tomatoes out of the oven when you see they have collapsed and mixed well with the oil.

Crostini:

Put a good tablespoon of stracciatella on each toast slice.

Top with oven-baked tomatoes. Feel free to add some oven-baked garlic and a little of the oil as well.

Decorate with fresh basil.

So good! 😍

Tips:

♥ Fresh mozzarella is shaped like balls and can be purchased in bags where the cheese balls are in brine (each weighing 125 grams). Adjust the amount of cream depending on how soft the mozzarella you use is. Preferably use buffalo mozzarella (Mozzarella di bufala) if you can get it. It is often extra soft, and then just add 1 dl cream. If using regular fresh mozzarella made from cow's milk, which is firmer, you should use 2 dl cream. If you want to make a smaller portion, it usually fits with about 4 tbsp cream per mozzarella.

♥ Homemade stracciatella can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days. Let it sit at room temperature for half an hour before serving, so it becomes completely soft again.

♥ You can prepare the toast, stracciatella, and oven-baked tomatoes in advance, but the crostini should be assembled just before serving so they stay completely crispy.

♥ See also Toast with burrata and confit tomatoes.

Very tasty, Italian crostini! 😊

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