OK, confession: I LOVE Sandra Lee. I’m basing said love on the only two facts that I know about her, which are as follows:
1. Girlfriend does not cook without a glass of wine in hand;
2. Girlfriend also does not cook when cooking is not necessary.
I am so on board with both of these things. The latter one is a biggie, because while it would be lovely if we could all swan around in the kitchen whipping up from-scratch everything, my life is the kind of life that more often than not requires me to break out that plastic lemon squeezy bottle thing (you know, the one I keep in my refrigerator “just in case”), because there is a baby in my other hand preventing me from doing anything resembling slicing. And you know what? I can’t tell the difference. Or at least I can’t tell it enough to make me care.
Likewise, I’m sure homemade pesto is great. I don’t remember, exactly, because the last time I made it was in the years P.C. (pre-children). You know what else is great? Pesto, generally. Including the stuff that the nice people at the grocery store already went ahead and made and put in little jars for you.
My point: you can make these crostinis totally from scratch, but I don’t think you should. Because they’re delicious, just as they are, all semi-homemade and stuff.
Pea And Pesto Crostini
What You Need:
- 1 fresh baguette (French bread if you want to make these small; ciabatta if you want them lunch-sized as pictured here), cut into thin slices
- Olive oil
- Sea salt
- 1 ball fresh mozzarella, sliced into thin rounds
- 1 bag steam-in-bag peas
- Store-bought pesto
- Fresh basil
What You Do:
- Place sliced bread on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sea salt, and bake in a 350F oven for about 15 minutes, or until lightly golden.
- Steam the peas according to package directions, and divide into two bowls. Lightly mash the peas in one bowl, and fold in the pesto.
- Onto each slice of toasted bread, place 1-2 rounds of mozzarella, 1-2 tsp of the pesto/pea mixture, a sprinkling of whole peas, and a couple of basil leaves. Lightly drizzle with olive oil and a little more salt, and serve immediately.
