Any good pesto is a great topping for toasted bread—also called crostini—but I’m especially partial to the mushroom version, which is mellower than the more herb-focused varieties.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 36 crostini; 12 hors d¿oeuvres servings
Ingredients
36 slices of baguette bread (each slice 1/2 inch thick)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cups Mushroom Pesto (opposite)
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Arrange the bread slices on two heavy, large baking sheets. Brush the slices with the oil, and bake until the crostini are pale golden and crisp, about 15 minutes. Spoon the mushroom pesto over the crostini and serve immediately.
Reprinted with permission from Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes by Martha Stewart Living Magazine. Copyright © 2005 by Giada De Laurentiis. Published by Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.
Giada De Laurentiis is the star of Food Network's Everyday Italian and Behind the Bash. She attended the Cordon Bleu in Paris, and then worked in a variety of Los Angeles restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck's Spago, before starting her own catering and private-chef company, GDL Foods. The granddaughter of movie producer Dino De Laurentiis, Giada was born in Rome and grew up in Los Angeles, where she now lives.
