Holiday Crostini 8 Delicious Ways

The crostini bread can be made days and days in advance – it stays crispy for ages!

Crostini

Everybody loves finger food. No need to deal with a knife and fork, struggle with chopsticks or scoop with spoons. Just clutch your cocktail in one hand and use your other to pop these in your mouth! “Crostini” means “little crusts” (ie. “little toasts”) in Italian and that’s exactly what they are: Thin, small slices of bread, toasted until crisp and then piled with toppings. As for what toppings, you’re only limited by your imagination! From vegetables to cured meats, seafood to cheese, there’s really no rules for what to pile on and no need to rigidly stick to Italian flavours. I originally shared this in 2019 with 4 fairly classic Crostini topping ideas, but I’ve continued to add to my collection, so I’ve updated this post with more for a total of 8 now!

Crostini Topping Ideas

What you need to make Crostini

First, let me show you how to make Crostini (the bread) itself. The key here is to find a small, thinnish baguette / French stick. Small enough so that once sliced, the bread is a “two-bite” size. Crostini are meant to be canapés! The garlic is used to lightly rub the bread for a hint of garlic flavour. This subtle garlic background note gives the Crostini a special edge – a cheffy tip that’s also great for Bruschetta!

How to make Crostini

Slice the bread thinly. Brush both sides with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake on a tray until crisp, rubbing one side with garlic halfway through the bake. Bake the bread until it’s 100% crisp and dehydrated. That’s how Crostini is supposed to be (unlike Bruschetta which is toasted so the bread is still soft of the inside). TIP: The Crostini bread can be made days and days in advance!

1. Smoked Salmon Crostini

This is of course amongst the most classic of flavour combinations: Smoked salmon with something creamy (cream cheese), lemon, dill (best mates with salmon!) and capers. Bruschetta is also generally less crisp than Crostini, which are fully baked until it’s 100% crisp. Bruschetta on the other hand is toasted or grilled like normal toast, so remains soft on the inside. This is a very elegant Crostini topping option that would be right at home passed around over pre-dinner champagne or Mimosas at a special occasion dinner party. Or, in the case of my family and friends, crowding around the kitchen bench politely waiting for the last one to be assembled before all hands dive in to grab them!

2. Caprese Crostini

Ah Caprese-style! I love you in salad form, with baked Eggs for breakfast – and I love you in mini form on crunchy pieces of crostini! You’ll love the combination of the creamy bocconcini with the juicy cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and the pops of intense sweet and tang from the balsamic glaze!

3. Prawn / Shrimp Crostini with Avocado

This topping is always the first to be gobbled up! (Don’t ask me why it’s not the first one I’m sharing 😂). Garlic, shrimp/prawns and avocado is an addictive combination (try this Shrimp/Prawn Avocado Salad!). Add a drizzle of lime juice and a fresh sprinkle of coriander/cilantro so it sings with freshness, pile it onto the crunchy crostini and take a bite of heaven!

4. Mediterranean

I make this a LOT because it’s the quickest to prepare! Just buy a tub of mixed antipasto and chop it. Smear ricotta on the crostini, pile on the antipasto and you’re done. You get all the free juiciness and flavour from whatever the antipasto was marinated in. It’s colourful too and looks so good. And it’s just a great way to bring together variations of flavours and textures. Incidentally, the ricotta also helps keep the topping stick to the crostini better so it doesn’t all fall off when you bite into the Crostini!

For the next four, I don’t have photos of ingredients nor are they included in the video because I’m adding these in as extras that I happened to photograph during the year. Trust me when I say you do not need a video guidance for these – they are that simple! ❤️

5. Strawberry and Goats Cheese with Honey

You will need: Ripe strawberries, soft-style or softened goats cheese, fresh thyme leaves and honey. Fruit, spreadable cheese and honey is a classic but underrated flavour combination that you can’t go wrong with. And it looks so darn pretty!

5. Rare Roast Beef with Hot English Mustard

All you need: Rare roast beef (finely shaved), hot English mustard, cream cheese (or goats cheese or soft Danish feta) and tiny sprigs of rocket/arugula (or parsley leaves). This is a dead simple, buy ‘n’ assemble gig. The rosy beef slices look terrific when topped with a sprig of green. The cream cheese adds welcome moistness and acts as the glue, while a little dab of spicy English mustard with rare beef is a must-have, right?

5. “Holiday Tapenade”: Almonds, cranberries, olives

You will need: Goat’s cheese, green and black olives, almonds, dried cranberries, parsley. All finely chopped to make a rough “tapenade”, then piled on crostini spread with goats cheese, this is a surprising combination of ingredients that works so well! It’s that salty/sweet/nutty/crunchy thing – and the flavours are right on theme for Holidays!

8. Chilli Mint Prawns on Parmesan Pea Puree

You will need: Cooked prawns/shrimp, frozen peas, parmesan, parsley, chilli, mint, garlic and lemon. The bright green pea puree with parmesan looks great against the white and pink prawns, while the parsley and chilli sprinkling gives it a festive colour flourish. A little mint meanwhile gives an extra freshness bump. So summery! And there we have it – just eight of hundreds or probably thousands of topping possibilities out there! For a gathering with friends, try serving these with refreshing Mojitos – or colourful Tequila Sunrises! For a more elegant pre dinner option, I think Cosmopolitans would be ideal. – Nagi x