This may be the first recipe I’ve made from this book. The book itself is lovely, it has lots of themed tea parties with suggested recipes and one day I’ll have the time to have friends around for afternoon tea…
I’d been invited to an evening showing of The Help by the local church woman’s group and the instruction was to bring a plate of savoury nibbles. Not having attended any of the women’s church socials before I really wasn’t sure what the level was – packet of crisps or beautifully presented platters ? I decided it would be a good excuse to try something from this book and picked the pea and parmesan crostini’s. These were delicious yet so simple. Preparing the crostini was the longest part (and transporting them safely was a challenge). I’ve doubled the quantities for the topping as just made one type of topping for a whole baguette and in the book the author has two types of topping for the one baguette.
To make Crostini toasts
1 French-style baguette
olive oil for brushing
Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Cut thin slices of baguette (expect to get approx 24 slices) and lightly brush both sides of each slice with oil. Arrange on a baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes, until crisp and light golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Pea and Parmesan Topping
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 4 shallots finely chopped
- 400g frozen peas
- 6 tbsp dry white wine
- dried chilli flakes to taste (optional)
- sea salt
- Parmesan cheese shavings to serve
Method
- Lightly saute the shallots in the oil for 3 minutes until translucent
- Add the peas and wine to the pan, cover and cook for further 3 minutes until tender.
- Blend until smooth using handheld blender or food processor
- Transfer to bowl and season to taste with sea salt and a pinch of dried chilli flakes if using.
- To assemble the crostini spoon the pea puree onto the crostini toasts. Top with parmesan shavings and serve immediately. Topping can be either warm or cold.
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