Years later while planning appetizers to serve at our first American Christmas, Alfonso decided to place garlic mushrooms atop crostini adorned with Spanish goat cheese. Now, we always bring the garlic mushroom and goat cheese crostini to my mom’s Christmas Eve shindig because they are so easy and quick to make.
Ingredients
- ½ French baguette, slightly frozen
- Olive oil for sautéing and drizzling
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ½ pound mixed-variety mushrooms, sliced
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- Splash of white wine
- 1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
- 8 ounces Spanish goat cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. For the crostini: Slice the slightly frozen baguette into 1-inch slices. Arrange on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for 5–10 minutes, until crisp and golden but not yet brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
For the mushrooms: Drizzle about a tablespoon of oil in a large sauté pan over medium/medium-high heat. The oil is ready when you drop in a single breadcrumb and it begins to sizzle on top of the oil. Once the oil is heated, add the mushrooms, salt and pepper. Sauté until mushrooms are tender, but still slightly firm—this will only take a few minutes. Add the minced garlic and stir for about 30 seconds, being careful not to let the garlic burn. Splash in a little white wine and continue to sauté until the alcohol has burned off. Remove from heat and mix in parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Arrange the mushrooms, goat cheese and crostini on a serving platter for people to assemble themselves or assemble them individually and serve. To assemble individually: Spread a layer of goat cheese on each crostino, top with a spoonful of the mushroom mixture and top with a sprinkle of parsley.
