Za’atar Tomato Crostini
This is a great twist on the famous tomato crostini recipe.
It’s wonderful to have a nice crunchy appetizer that is easy to make up your sleeve.
For those gatherings of friends and family when you want to offer something to munch on with a drink.
A nice sauvignon blanc perhaps, chilled just enough to impart those passion fruit and white peach flavors on your tongue.
This crostini will be a great addition, helping to creating a smorgasbord of tastes in your mouth.
Tomato, za’atar, olives, feta cheese, all brought together on a crunchy bit of toast, explodes with flavor in your mouth.
In Italian crostini means small crusts.
Generally made from slices of toasted baguettes these little morsels are meant to be dispatched in one or two bites.
Sometimes mistaken for the larger bruschetta, crostini is like the smaller sister, it possesses a lot of the same characteristics, but in a smaller way.
I got some of the reddest, rippest tomatoes from the Jordan Valley to make this tomato crostini, since my tomato plants are not at the fruiting stage yet.
I’m looking forward to when I start making my own cheese as well to include in this recipe, but in the meantime I used a Hungarian feta cheese that is lovely in its flavor, and beautiful in its consistency.
It fit perfectly with my homemade za’atar, and the sun ripened tomatoes.
There was a lot on offer in the Valley today, from cucumbers, to carrots, to beetroot, and everything in between.
We picked up huge bunches of garlic that should last us through the summer for sure.
The best way to keep large quantities of dried garlic is to hang the bunches in a dark place with good air circulation.
I’m excited to make garlic soup.
It is one of my favorite soups to make, and there are so many variations, from cream based soups to consommes, ever versatile, garlic is a champion among foods.
Garlic is extremely nutritious, and yet very low in calories.
For centuries garlic has been used for medicinal purposes, as it was always linked to health benefits.
And today science has proven that they were right about garlic all along.
It’s a definite superfood, full of goodness.
Not to mention the yummy taste.
A lot of Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean foods are linked through the use of garlic.
My father loves to blend whole raw garlic cloves with olive oil to create a garlic paste for his breakfast on Fridays when he goes down to the Jordan valley.
A variation for this tomato crostini recipe is to add fresh chopped or crushed garlic to the topping.
It will elevate your za’atar tomato crostini to a whole new level.
A fun thing to do when you make this crostini is to make additional toppings.
Things that you might have in a mezze, like hummus, or baba ghanouj, or labneh for example.
All of those would work very well as toppings for crostinis.
Go ahead and experiment with your favorite toppings and be sure to send me a photo of your creation!
Za'atar Tomato Crostini
Ingredients
- 12 slices Baguette
- ¼ cup Olive Oil
- 1 cup Tomato chopped
- 3 tbsp Za'atar
- 1 tbsp Olives chopped
- ½ tsp Black Pepper
- ¾ cup Feta Cheese crumbled
Instructions
- Toast baguette slices.
- Mix all other ingredients together.
- Generously top baguette slices with mixture.
- Serve.
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try!
Thanks Judy!