Ricotta Roasted Red Pepper Crostini
This is an easy appetizer that I’ve made for years. Creamy ricotta cheese provides the background for sweet roasted red peppers. Add some peppery arugula for a different flavour and a salute to the Italian flag—highlighting red, white and green. The toppings work beautifully with traditional crostini or with pan-fried polenta (see note below) for gluten-intolerant friends and family.
Ingredients
- 1 batch Crostini still warm (see recipe below)
- 1 clove garlic cut in half lengthwise
- 1½ cups 375 mL thinly sliced Roasted Red Peppers (see recipe below)
- 1 small clove garlic minced
- 2 Tbsp 30 mL chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 2 Tbsp 30 mL extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp 15 mL red wine vinegar
- ¼ tsp 1 mL salt
- ¼ tsp 1 mL fresh ground pepper
- 1 cup 250 mL ricotta cheese
- Fresh small basil leaves optional
Instructions
- WHILE CROSTINI ARE STILL WARM, rub garlic over baguette slices. Set aside. In a bowl, combine peppers, garlic, parsley, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Spread ricotta over toasted crostini. Top with peppers and garnish with basil, if using.
- Gluten Free Option: I served this recipe on polenta circles at a friend’s gathering who is gluten-free. They loved it! Use a tube of store-bought polenta, slice and panfry in oil; top with the ricotta and peppers. So easy.
- MAKES 20 PIECES.
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- Roasted Red Peppers
- Peperoni Rossi Arrostiti
- Each summer the abundance of Ontario’s farmed red peppers is wonderful to take advantage of. It’s worth picking up a bushel and taking them home to roast or turn into a sauce. Long Sheppard peppers are great as they have fewer seeds in them and a meaty flesh that is full of flavour.
- sweet red bell or Sheppard peppers (approx. 11 lb / 5 kg), washed ALLOW PEPPERS TO DRY. Preheat your grill or barbecue to medium-high heat. Fill the grill with peppers and close lid. Grill for 15 to 25 minutes, turning often, until skins are blistered and charred. Remove to a large bowl or baking sheet and repeat with remaining peppers.
- Let cool until peppers are easy enough to handle and remove skins and seeds (don’t worry if there are some seeds sticking). Place peppers into small resealable bags, about 3 or 4 per bag and press out the air. Lay flat and freeze for up to 1 year. When you want to use them, simply let them come to room temperature or let thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
- Roasted Red Pepper Sauce: Puree roasted red peppers in a blender or food processor until smooth and freeze in airtight containers or resealable bags for up to 1 year.
- MAKES 10 PACKAGES.
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- Crostini
- Crostini are very versatile. There are seemingly infinite different toppings you can put on them. I like to cook these until they are lightly golden and still a bit soft in the centre; makes it easier to bite into it and not have it shatter. It’s never a good thing to have your food all over the front of your shirt. My Zias would surely ask me to take my messy shirt off to wash it for me!
- Half a baguette, sliced into about ½-inch
- (1 cm) thick slices
- Tbsp (30 mL) extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ tsp (1 mL) salt
- ¼ tsp (1 mL) fresh ground pepper
- PREHEAT OVEN TO 400°F (200°C). Brush baguette slices with oil and place on baking sheet. Bake for about 5 minutes or until they are light golden. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- MAKES ABOUT 20 CROSTINI.
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