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assorted crostini

These delicious, crisp slices of bread, and their colourful toppings, are very useful for parties or as snacks or appetizers. In keeping with the occasion, you can make them hearty – in true Tuscan style – or more delicate by varying the size and topping. A fairly slim french stick, sliced into rounds, slightly less than 1cm (¹/₂in) thick, makes a good, average-size crostini. For mini ones, you can use finger rolls, similarly sliced.

Preheat the oven to 150–160°C/275–300°F/Gas³/₄–1. Put the rounds on baking sheets and bake for about 20–30 minutes, until they are dry and crisp. For a richer flavour, they may be brushed on both sides with olive oil, half-way through cooking, then returned to the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheets.

You can then serve the crostini as they are or add toppings such as any of the dips, Tapenade, which is particularly good, or savoury vegetable pâté (available from healthfood shops), garnished with fresh herbs, pine nuts, capers, small pieces of grilled (broiled) sweet red pepper or olives as you wish. They are best assembled just before serving, so that the bread remains crisp, but all the toppings and garnishes can be prepared in advance so you are ready to put them together.