Well, we certainly have not had a Toasty Tuesday in a while, but I guess today is your lucky Tuesday!! (uhhh, cause we are having toast).
So I knew that we have been having an unusually warm and very early Spring for Seattle. But I have been so busy enjoying the warmer weather that I failed to realize what an impact it has had on our environment. I noticed that many of my favorite Spring and early Summer blooms came weeks early. But last week I spoke with the produce manager at our local grocery store and found out that the Eastern Washington stone fruit crops were a MONTH early!!! That is crazy global warming you guys.
So all the sudden, here we are in the middle of May with CHERRIES!! Gorgeous ripe juicy cherries. We have both Yellow Ranier and gorgeous dark red Bing cherries here in the Northwest. Not that I could ever tire of eating them raw, but sometimes it is fun to experiment with them in other ways- like roasting them here or in this Crostini recipe!
I love that they are roasted with savory thyme and they get a kick from the balsamic glaze. This is truly a beautiful and delicious recipe, one you should try soon!
- Crostini:
- 12 slices toasted baguette
- 1 cup Almond Ricotta
- 12 cherries, pitted and halved
- 12 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- kosher salt
- honey (agave for vegans)
- balsamic glaze
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the slices of baguette on a sheet pan and toast the slices of baguette for 7 minutes on the lower rack. At the same time, on a sheet pan lined with parchment, place the cherries and thyme and drizzle with the 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle the cherries with salt. Roast for 5-7 on the high rack in the oven minutes until tender and bubbly.
- Spread a spoonful of almond ricotta onto the top of each crostini. Top with 2 cherry halves and a crispy sprig of thyme. Drizzle the crostini with honey and a bit of balsamic glaze. Top each toast with a tiny sprinkle of kosher salt and serve immediately.
Print Recipe
Simply gorgeous, such nice rustic bites to enjoy perfect for a summer morning!
Yesss! Cherries are everything and these are beautiful!
honey – for vegans?
Sorry for confusion Helen- I use agave when I make it for Vegans.
Do you make the almond ricotta or can you buy it?
I make it and have a post on it http://heatherchristo.com/2016/03/29/how-to-make-almond-ricotta/ or I buy Kite Hill brand at Whole Foods!
Do you have a recipe you love for a baguette that is gf, df, and yeast free? i unfortunately suffer from a array of allergies. i am Celiac, i have a severe casein allergy and am allergic to yeast and cane sugar.
Totally understand! We have everything but the yeast. So I don’t, but am working on one currently. We are in Seattle and buy Olivia Brand baguette- but it does have a small amount of cane sugar in theirs.
How do you make almond ricotta?
Hi Jackie- here is the post on that: http://heatherchristo.com/2016/03/29/how-to-make-almond-ricotta/
Hi Heather!
I am planning to make this amazing looking recipe and wanted to know which of your almond ricotta recipes did you use; the easy or the hard(er) version?
Thanks!!
kt
Hi Katie! I made the soft Almond ricotta!
This looks yummy! But can this be done with regular ricotta?
For sure Diana! I just make it with Almonds because of allergies!
Would I have to sweeten it somehow? Thank u for ur reply!
Hi Diana- there is just the honey to sweeten 🙂 The cherries are pretty sweet on there own!