
3 Sourdough Crostoni
Living in Southern Tuscany one should not complain about the food – and we don’t – but we do miss good sourdough, like the one we used to get a Gail’s when we lived in London. So when we happen to be in Florence we always try to pop in to S.Forno in the Oltrarno to pick a couple of loaves – and spend the next few days binging on delicious (non Tuscan) bread!
Crostoni (Tuscan open sandwiches) are perfect for lunch, and especially in September when you start wanting something slightly warmer to eat in the middle of the day. I’ve made 3 different types here: with zucchini flowers, anchovies and gruyere, with brie, parma ham and figs, and a slightly spicy one with chard.
There are different flavours at play in each crostone, so you can experiment a little bit with different Olive Oils (the bieta crostone, for example, will want one with a stronger impact, such as Viola’s Inprivio or Franci’s Le Trebbiane, while the brie based crostone would work best with one of from Frantoio di Riva on the banks of lake Garda).
Ingredients
Serves 2 for lunch or 4 as a starter
Crostone ai fiori di zucca, gruyere e alici
2 slices of bread.
2 big zucchini flowers
2 anchovy fillets
Gruyere Cheese 50 g – sliced.
Crostone con brie, prosciutto e fichi
2 slices of bread.
2 slices of brie
2 figs, cut in quarters, skin off.
2 slices of prosciutto crudo
Little bit of thyme
Crostone alla bieta ripassata
2 slices of bread.
Chard 150g
1 small Garlic clove whole
1 small peperoncino (chili), cut in small pieces.
Zest of ½ a lemon
Method
Wash the chard well and boil in salted water until tender (about 5 minutes), drain, squeezing all the water out of it, then slice in small pieces.
Cut the base from the zucchini flower, taking off the stem.
Put the 2 slices of bread under the grill.
Pour some oil in a pan on a medium heat and cook the garlic clove to ‘flavour’ the oil (don’t burn it). When soft and brown, take the garlic out of the pan and add the chili, turn the heat up a little and put the chard in to absorb the flavours. When drying up take off the heat.
Take the bread off the grill, turn around so the untoasted side is facing up.
On two slices layer the gruyere, anchovy fillets and flowers and put back under the grill.
Toast the other 4 slices of bread.
On two of these drizzle some olive oil, place the chard, a little pepper and the lemon zest, then some more EVOO on top
On the other two, layer the brie, then the ham, then the figs, sprinkle a few thyme leaves on them, a little bit of pepper and a drizzle of EVOO
Take the crostoni from the oven, when the cheese is melted, and drizzle a little bit of EVOO over the flowers, plate and serve immediately.