Are those marshmallows?!? Umm NO! They're mozzarella balls and I'm obsessed with them! They make everything delicious AND cute...and you know how I feel about my food being cute- mandatory!! Well, surely you have tasted the goodness that is caprese salad before, right?! I often make a caprese skewer with mozz, cherry tomatoes, basil, and balsamic glaze, but this is another level. Caprese Crostinis! aka baby toasts topped with goodness. We added a secret ingredient. Avocado, duh. So you know it's good!
Before we get into the recipe, I must confess....I DIDN'T KNOW THE DIFF BETWEEN CROSTINI AND BRUSCHETTA UNTIL RECENTLY! I meannn maybe I did but just never really thought about it? idk. But now I do for sure, and I'm happy to share that knowledge with you. Crostinis are baby toasts, usually toasted then brushed with olive oil and served with toppings. Bruschetta's main difference is the actual BREAD. It's larger, thicker, and traditionally rubbed with garlic then heated and served. Tbh, not a huge difference except for the bread. I'm a fan of crostini because anything bite size is my jam.
Alright, let's get to it! Instead of a traditional caprese, I opted to add avocado to our crostinis to jazz things up, and WOW. These were delish. DELISH. I'm so pleased to share them with you because I know your guests (or just you because you might eat them all) will be pumped. The true secret of this simple simple recipe is actually the BREAD! That's right. It's gotta be good. We are adding delicious things to it, but if the bread isn't good, the crostinis won't be good.
To break it down for you, we are basically toasting the bread, adding the goodies, giving them a quick broil in the oven, then topping with the glaze. I mean, it's simple, but for the sake of being thorough, I'll explain all of the steps below! Of course, presentation is key...I always love serving apps on a charcuterie board or something with a little texture to give it some interest. This charcuterie board is one of my faves!
ingredients
- thinly sliced baguette bread
- olive oil
- cherry tomatoes
- mozzarella balls
- avocado, sliced
- balsamic glaze (I used this one)
- fresh basil leaves(4-6 leaves), tear or slice into shreds
directions
- Pre-heat oven to 350°. Slice your baguette. PRO TIP: ask your grocery store/bakery to do this for you...they should have a machine that does it in about 30 seconds, makes even slices, and doesn't squish the bread!
- Place sliced bread on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.
- Bake for 5-10 minutes until warm and slightly toasted. (don't over bake; you'll put them back in the oven at the end to toast them!)
- Remove bread from oven. Turn on oven broiler.
- Leave bread on baking sheet and top with avocado slice, tomato, mozzarella, and basil shreds.
- Broil for 1-2 minutes until bread is toasted and mozzarella starts to melt. You don't need the mozzarella to melt all the way, just enough to toast everything slightly.
- Remove from oven. Carefully move crostinis from baking sheet to serving tray with a spatula. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and serve immediately.
Enjoy! Your guests will love these! One of my favorite things about them is that they look like they took a long time to make, thanks to a beautiful presentation, but in reality, you can whip these up in 10 minutes!