Crostini – Italian for “little crusts” or “little toasts” – are small, thin slices of toasted bread with something on top. This version spreads mini baguette slices with a homemade chili, olive and cheddar mayonnaise and bakes them for 5–7 minutes at 225 °C, until the cheese melts. We call it crostini peperoncino e cheddar, and we often eat it with carrot soup. In Italian the same word is also used for croutons.
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Recipe
Crostini
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 225 °C.
- Put the egg yolk in a bowl with the mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper and stir it together.
- Add a few drops of oil while you whisk. Add a few more drops as you keep whisking. Keep adding oil this way for a while as you whisk. Gradually you can increase the amount, but be careful not to add too much at a time, or the mayonnaise will split. The consistency should be like mayonnaise, because that's exactly what you have just made.
- Season to taste with mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper.
- Rinse the chili pepper, split it lengthwise, remove the stalk and seeds, and cut the chili into fine strips. Add them to the mayonnaise.
- Also cut the olives into thin slices and put them in the mayonnaise.
- Grate the cheddar if it is not already grated, and mix everything together.
- Split the mini baguettes, or cut them into slices lengthwise, crosswise or diagonally, as you like, and spread the mayonnaise mixture over them.
- Place the bread on an oven rack and bake until the topping has melted well and everything is heated through. This takes about 5-7 minutes.
Step by step, in pictures
The six moves of the recipe card, from whisking the mayonnaise to the oven rack.
Whisk the yolk with mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper- Add the oil a few drops at a time while whisking
- Deseed and finely cut the chili
- Slice the olives thinly
- Stir cheddar, chili and olives into the mayonnaise
- Spread on the bread and bake 5–7 minutes
Crostini vs bruschetta: what is the difference?
Crostini are smaller, thinner slices, usually cut from a baguette and baked or toasted; bruschetta is made from larger, thicker slices of rustic country bread, grilled and often rubbed with garlic. The two names are often used interchangeably. Both are commonly served as antipasto – literally “before the meal” – as an appetizer or part of one.
What bread is best for crostini?
A narrow, fine-grained loaf such as a baguette is the usual choice, because it slices into small, even rounds. This recipe uses mini baguettes; ciabatta or another rustic loaf works too.
Should crostini be hard or soft?
Classic plain crostini are toasted until crisp all the way through – most recipes bake oiled baguette slices at about 190–205 °C (375–400 °F) for about 7–10 minutes. These are different: the topping goes onto untoasted bread and bakes for 5–7 minutes at 225 °C, so the edges crisp while the middle stays softer under the melted cheese. For a firmer base, toast the plain slices first and add the topping afterwards.
More crostini toppings: crostini neri and ricotta with pesto
There are many kinds of crostini. One version commonly associated with Tuscany is crostini neri – “black crostini” – spread with a dark paste made from, among other things, liver, anchovies and capers. That is not the recipe on this page.
Another favourite, eaten as a small snack, is crostini with ricotta and parsley pesto: toast a slice of rustic bread – baguette, ciabatta or similar – spread it with good ricotta and drizzle pesto over. Other widely used toppings include goat cheese with honey, olive tapenade, prosciutto and smoked salmon with dill.
What to serve with these crostini
The recipe card serves four as a side for a soup such as carrot soup. For a starter table or buffet, put them next to crostini with ricotta and a few small hot dishes such as beyti kebab.
