Here is a popular snack for Italians and Spanish people alike – CROSTINI – making use of deliciously ripe, local produce like tomatoes, mushrooms and garlic, and of course the splendid olive oils rich in nutrients and vitamins for that glowing Mediterranean complexion. There are several options to making Crostini – you can use fresh tomatoes, or sauce chicken livers and mix with capers and anchovies, or you can mince mushrooms to make a ‘salsa al funghetto’ – here are instructions for all three versions
Ingredients:
Tomato Crostini –
Freshly baked uncut loaf of bread – brown or white
2-3 large cloves Garlic – whole
400g juicy red tomatoes
4 tbsp olive oil
S/P
Toast thick slices of fresh bread and rub both sides with cloves of peeled garlic. Then pour on the olive oil generously.
Roughly chop fresh tomatoes into chunks and pile on top of oiled bread.
Garnish with sea salt and fresh ground back pepper
Chicken Liver Crostini –
Freshly baked uncut loaf of bread – brown or white
250g Chicken livers
2 tbsp Olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup Capers
1/2 cup anchovies
S/P
Saute chicken livers in a saucepan over medium heat and butter and olive oil.
Remove when cooked and chop chicken livers well.
Mix livers with anchovies and capers and season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Return mix to the saucepan and stir in the broth (as required to keep mix pasty consistency)
Remove from pan and puree the mix into a thick paste
Serve warm on fresh bread
Salsa al Funghetto –
Freshly baked uncut loaf of bread – brown or white
250g mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
S/P
Mince mushrooms until almost a paste.
Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat and saute garlic until full of colour.
Remove garlic from saucepan.
Add mushrooms to same pan and cook slowly until dark brown or almost black and they have lost most of their liquid – about 15 minutes
Remove mushrooms from pan and press out remaining liquid with back of large spoon.
Discard the liquid
Season with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.
Serve immediately to store in fridge for a few days only.
Buon appetito!