Strawberry & Mascarpone Crostini

Crostini is made by thinly slicing bread, generally a plain white bread and then toasting it in the oven. It is then topped with a variety of toppings and is often used as an appetizer.

For this recipe I used a bagette, sliced in into thin slices, and then topped it with mascarpone cheese and strawberries.

For those of you who have been following by blog, you will notice that the mascarpone mixture is the same as that used for the stuffed french toast.

For the upcoming Fourth of July weekend, try some blueberries and either strawberries or raspberries on top for a patriot themed snack.

Ingredients:

Bagette - sliced into 1/4 inch slices

Cinnamon

Strawberried

Honey

Lemon juice

4 oz. mascarpone cheese

1 tsp. lemon zest

2 T. honey

Directions:

To prepare to crostini -

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the bread slices on a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet. This way the bread will toast on both sides. Sprinkle each slice with cinnamon. Toast in the oven for about 10 minutes, until crispy. Set aside to cool.

Mix the cheese, zest and honey together in a small bowl with a spoon or spatula. Set aside.

Slice the strawberries. Drizzle with honey and a little bit of the juice from the lemon you zested - to taste. Set aside.

To put together, simply spread some of the mascarpone mixture on each slice of toast and top with a few berries. It's as simple as that!

Enjoy!

Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast w/ Strawberries

Not sure what to do with your strawberries? Need a new idea? Here's one. ...... Stuffed Mascarpone French Toast with Strawberries!

You may ask, what in the heck is Mascarpone? Mascarpone is a cheese - a triple cream cheese - the main ingredient in Tiramisu. All I know is that it taste very yummy.

This is really quite an easy recipe, and the variations are endless.

Not a big fan of strawberries? Then switch out the strawberries for raspberries, blueberries, apples, peaches, etc. One of my favorite varieties is with apples and walnuts over top.

So, if you don't already have your strawberries, head on down to your local farmers market, or roadside strawberry stand and pick some up. But remember to leave a few for the french toast :)

Ingredients:

Filling -

4 oz. Mascarpone Cheese (cream cheese will work too)

1 tsp. lemon zest

2 T. honey

Mix the cheese, zest and honey together in a small bowl with a spoon or spatula. Set aside.

Toast and batter -

8 slices day old French or Italian bread - (most often I just use the wheat bread I have in the house)

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp cinnamon (cardamon would be a nice touch too)

1 tsp vanilla

Whisk eggs, mild, cinnamon and vanilla together. Set aside.

Topping:

Strawberries (or berry of your choosing)

Honey

Lemon juice

Slice the strawberries. Drizzle with honey and a little bit of the juice from the lemon you zested - to taste. Set aside.

To Prepare:

Spread one fourth of the cheese mixture on a slice of bread. Put a layer of strawberries on top of the cheese mixture.

Top this with another slice of bread, making sandwich.

Place the sandwich in the egg mixture as you normally would for french toast.

Place in a heated skillet or griddle. I like to put a little butter in the pan, or on the griddle for extra flavor. Cook on each side until golden brown - just like normal french toast.

To plate, sprinkle with powdered sugar. If you'd like, add some extra berries and almonds.

Now that's a tasty treat!

Enjoy!