Crostini are small slices of crunchy toasted bread that are served as appetizers or with soups and stews. Everyone loves crostini because they are tasty and fun to eat.
We’ll show you how to make the best crostini at home and top them with some of the most delicious fresh homemade toppings.
Everyone loves crostini! Those little toasts made with sliced bread and various toppings are probably the most popular appetizer in the world.
In this blog post, we will show you how to make them from scratch in the oven in less than 10 minutes.
We will also give you plenty of ideas for crostini toppings. From olives to tomatoes, from garlic to mushrooms, we are sure you will find your favorite topping here.
What are crostini?
Crostini comes from the word “crosta,” which means “crust” in Italian, and the suffix “ini,” which means little. So they are little crusts. Crostini is plural. The singular word is crostino, with an “o” at the end.
They were invented around the Middle Ages in Italy, where farmers would cut old bread into slices, toast it, and top it with whatever their garden had to offer. They would use the toasted bread instead of ceramic plates.
This tradition continued through the centuries, and nowadays, crostini are not only popular around Italy but anywhere in the world, from NYC to Cape Town. So let’s see how to make them!
Ingredients for crostini bread
Bread
In our opinion, the best crostini bread is French Baguette or Italian ciabatta bread because it gets crunchy fast, it doesn’t get too hard to bite, and it creates cute little toasts that are easy to eat.
Traditionally, crostini are made with one to two days old stale bread, but you can also make them with fresh bread.
To make gluten-free crostini, use gluten-free bread and ensure that your toppings don’t contain any gluten.
You can also use whole wheat bread or rye bread. We did this for our butternut squash soup, and it was delicious.
Extra virgin olive oil
Extra virgin olive oil is the oil of choice for most Italian recipes. It is rich in antioxidants, and it gives bread a light, aromatic flavor with earthy notes.
Salt and Pepper
Sprinkle on top to make their flavor pop in your mouth. Sea salt, kosher salt, Malden salt flakes, or freshly ground coarse salt is best. Freshly ground black pepper is optional.
Toppings
See the dedicated “crostini toppings” chapter below for a complete list of toppings.
You can top them with anything you like, from veggies to cheese to meats. For example, some people make crostini with goat cheese, feta, brie, salmon, shrimp, and even bacon.
While creamy goat cheese crostini are undoubtedly good, we’ll show you how to make tasty and healthy toppings with almost any vegetable.
Instructions for crostini
Preheat the oven to 450°F or 230°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
With a serrated bread knife, slice the baguette between 1/3-inch and 1/2-inch thick. To make larger slices, slice the baguette diagonally.
Brush each slice with extra virgin olive oil on both sides. To reduce oil, brush one side only.
Arrange the slices on the baking sheet without overlapping.
Bake at 450°F or 230°C for 7 minutes until crispy and golden. We like to bake our crostini only on one side because they get crunchy but not too hard.
If you like them crunchier, turn them around and bake for another 5 minutes. Keep in mind that they’ll get dryer as they cool down.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve as is, with some brushed garlic on top or with your favorite topping.
Crostini toppings
These are some of our favorite topping ideas we gathered while traveling and living in Italy.
- White bean dip and shaved asparagus
- Tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil
- Sautèed chard
- Basil pesto
- Ricotta (dairy-free recipe)
- Sautèed mushrooms
- Olive tapenade
- Sautèed zucchini
- Caponata
- Hummus
Variations
Air fryer crostini
After making air-fried croutons, we thought, why not make crostini in the air fryer, too? It works wonderfully.
Preheat the air fryer to 390°F or 200°C for 3 minutes. In the meantime, slice the bread and brush it with olive oil on one side.
Arrange the bread in the air fryer basket. The slices CAN overlap a bit. Air fry for 4 to 5 minutes, depending on how crusty you want them.
You can make air fryer crostini completely oil-free if you like. We sometimes do that when we want to have a lighter dinner.
Serving suggestions
You can enjoy crostini with different meals: next to salads for lunch and as a side with your dinner. Check out these ideas for inspiration:
- Appetizer: make a platter with two or three of your favorite toppings, such as spreads and sauce or sautèed and roasted vegetables.
- Soups: Crostini is a perfect pairing with soups. Try this lentil soup, rustic bean soup, or vibrant zucchini soup.
- Dips: Served with your favorite dips such as muhammara, tzatziki, and baba ganoush.
Questions
In general crostini are smaller than bruschetta and crostoni. Also, crostini are brushed with oil before toasting them. Bruschetta is toasted without oil and drizzled with it after it’s toasted.
Crostini can be made with most bread varieties, including French baguette, sandwich bread, and other white bread. Bruschetta on the other hand can only be made with rustic Italian bread (pane casereccio, pane sciapo, pane toscano o umbro).
In practice, however, crostini, crostoni, and bruschetta are very similar. They are all toasted slices of bread with toppings, and in some Italian regions, the names are used interchangeably.
Here’s our favorite bruschetta recipe.
Your crostini are hard because you baked them too long. Reduce baking time, and your crostini will be less hard.
You should bake crostini at the last minute, just before serving. However, you can make the toppings up to 3 days in advance and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Storage
Crostini without the toppings can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days. They should not be stored in the refrigerator.
Crostini will get dryer and harder as the days go by. Crostini with toppings can only be stored for 12 to 24 hours, depending on the topping.
You can store the toppings separately in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. We do not recommend freezing crostini.
More appetizer ideas
Whether you’re getting ready for game night or Holiday celebrations, here are some finger food ideas that please a crowd.
Crostini Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 baguette (about 1 pound or 450 grams)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F or 230°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.With a serrated bread knife, slice the baguette between ⅓-inch and ½-inch thick. To make larger slices slice the baguette diagonally.
- Brush each slice with extra virgin olive oil on both sides. To reduce oil, brush one side only.Arrange the slices on the baking sheet without overlapping.
- Bake at 450°F or 230°C for 7 minutes until crispy and golden. We like to bake our crostini only on one side because they get crunchy but not too hard.If you like crunchier crostini, turn them around and bake for another 5 minutes. Keep in mind that the crostini get dryer as they cool down.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve as is, with some brushed garlic on top, or with your favorite crostini topping.
Notes
Nutrition information is an estimate for four crostini without toppings.
Nutrition
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I have eaten crostini stored in an airtight container after 6 months and have never gotten sick