Roasted Pepper Crostini

 

After living in the US for a,most 10 years, my husband and I left our jobs in Florida and moved to Pondicherry, India in late 2012 and have now started our own business. Its been a year filled with mixed emotions and weird, unthinkable adjustments. Being in India was a shock to my system (mind and body) initially but now after a year things are falling into place and I am aiming to restart my blog and photography in the beginning of this new year.

Pondicherry has a huge French influence and one of its side effects are awesome bakeries that make the most beautiful breads. Its a small city and one can cover the main city (where most of the stores, restaurants etc. are located) on a bicycle quiet easily…except for the summers when it gets intolerably hot.

Since the weather is tropical (not very different from Florida) there is always a lot of sunlight which is great for my photography. Pondy is a small little beach town located in the southern part of India. Small population (relatively speaking) and most of the people roam around the town on a scooter.

Talking about this recipe- its a simple appetizer that doesn’t take a lot of time, you can even make the bell pepper topping in advance and store it in the fridge and just spread it over the crostini before serving.

The roasted bell pepper gives it a nice and bold smoky flavor! I used bell pepper in three colors to make it look interesting and also I feel that the intensity of the peppers varies as per their color- so that kind of gives the flavor a subtle variation.

Serving 4 people
Prep time 30 min
Assembling time 10 min

Things you will need:

3 bell peppers (different colors- optional)
1 head garlic
1/2 french baguette
olive oil
salt
pepper
Wash, towel dry and coat the bell peppers with some oil and roast it on medium high till the skin turns black and the flesh gets tender. Chop the top off of the garlic head and place it on a piece of an aluminum foil…facing up. Pour some olive oil and sprinkle some salt on it. Close the foil tightly and place it on the grill plate along with the bell peppers. Everything will take approximately 30 mins to cook. Let it cool for 10 minutes. Take the skin out of the peppers and chop it into small pieces. In a separate bowl mix the garlic with some olive oil till it forms a paste/spread like consistency. Cut the baguette into bite size thickness and toast on a non stick pan. Now, there are two ways to assemble the crostini- 1) you can spread the garlic on the toasted bread and spoon the pepper mixture (this will give a sweet roasted garlic flavor) and sprinkle some salt and pepper, 2) you can mix the garlic paste into the topping along with some salt and then spoon it on the toasted bread. Either way it tastes fresh and delicious!
Category : Appetizer, Vegan
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