No strict recipe for seasonal fruit crostini with ricotta
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Cookbook author Stef Ferrari says you don't need a recipe to make her seasonal fruit crostini with ricotta and honey. Instead, you need to trust your instincts. Choose any seasonal fruit to pair with fresh ricotta, quality honey, and optional crunchy bits or herbs. Some of her favorite fruits for the crostini include cherries, figs, pears and peaches.
To make it, toast baguette slices brushed with olive oil and then spread them with ricotta. Then adopt a flexible formula for topping it with fruit, drizzling with honey, and adding any extras like nuts or herbs.
Like so many preparations in this cookbook, "Stuzzichini," and in Italian food in general, it's almost impossible to call this a recipe. Instead, it's an act of trust: You must trust that whatever fruit you choose for this crostini will pair perfectly with fresh ricotta, good-quality honey, and your choice of crunchy bits and/or herbs and/or spices, as long as it's done with intention and care.
You must trust nature, and your intuition.
Some of my favorite seasonal fruits to use include rotund red cherries, juicy figs, buttery pears, and tart peaches, but keep an eye out at the market and an open mind, and I have faith the formula will always deliver.
I use the following as a good starting point per slice: 1 to 2 tablespoons ricotta, 2 teaspoons honey, ¼ cup fruit.
Crostini di Frutta di Stagione, Ricotta, & Miele(Crostini with Seasonal Fruit, Ricotta and Honey)
Ingredients:
Baguette, sliced on a bias
Extra-virgin olive oil
Whole-milk ricotta
Seasonal fruit (cherries, pears, peaches, apples, figs, oranges) cleaned and pitted, cut to your preference
Honey
Nuts, fresh-cracked black pepper, fresh herbs, grated citrus zest, prosciutto (optional)
Directions:
Brush the baguette slices with oil and toast on a sheet pan in a 375 F (190 C) oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
Spread the ricotta evenly across the slices. Arrange the fruit on each slice and drizzle with honey. Add any optional toppings and serve.
Stef Ferrari is the author of "Stuzzichini," and is a three-time Emmy-winning, James Beard Award-nominated producer on the PBS docuseries "The Migrant Kitchen."
Excerpted from "Stuzzichini" by Stef Ferrari. Copyright (copyright) 2024 by Stef Ferrari. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.