Grill up some summer peach and ricotta crostini appetizer bites in under 30 minutes. This dish is elegant and perfect for entertaining, without much effort on your part.
Once summer hits, I look for every excuse to eat more peaches. If you're like me, then you're going to love this grilled peach appetizer recipe.
This is a bite-sized hors d'oeuvre topped with lemon and garlic ricotta and finished with a grilled peach and balsamic glaze. It's the perfect combination of savory and sweet.
This recipe makes for a light appetizer before dinner with a summer cocktail, like this lemon pisco sour. It would also be a perfect snack to serve at happy hour or during a dinner party.
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What You'll Learn In This Recipe
- Tips to prevent the crostini from becoming soggy.
- How to pick out the perfect peach at the grocery store.
- My favorite grilling secrets to achieving perfectly grilled bread and peaches.
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Ingredients You Need
- Ricotta cheese: Ricotta cheese is a main ingredient of this dish. I'd suggest purchasing whole milk ricotta cheese for maximum flavor.
- Garlic: You can't beat the taste of freshly minced garlic. If you don't have garlic cloves on hand, you can substitute for 2 teaspoons of pre-minced jarred garlic.
- Lemon: This recipe utilizes the whole lemon - both the peel and the juice. It gives the crostini appetizer a fresh and bright taste.
- Baguette: Similar to bruschetta, all crostini recipes require bread. While I love using a classic French baguette, you can substitute this for another type of crusty bread.
- Peaches: Fresh peaches are the star of the show. It's best to look for peaches while they are in season, June - August. Peaches are part of the stone fruit family, characterized by a thin skin, soft flesh, and woody pit. When picking out peaches at the grocery store, give them a sniff. If they have a nice, sweet smell, then they should be good. You’ll also want to inspect the skin to look for bright, vibrant colors. You could also make this recipe with grilled nectarines if you're looking for an easy substitution.
- Extra virgin olive oil: This is an essential ingredient to prevent the peaches from sticking on the grill and to allow the bread to properly crisp up.
- Fresh basil: Fresh basil adds a lovely pop of color on top of the crostini.
- Balsamic glaze: This is a unique ingredient that adds the perfect amount of acid and tanginess to the dish. It's an optional, but highly recommended part of the recipe.
How To Make This Recipe
To make this appetizer with fresh peaches, there are only a few steps you'll need to follow.
Mise En Place
Mise en place is a French word that means to put everything in place. During this stage of the recipe, we will gather all of the ingredients and prepare them for assembling the peach crostini.
Don't forget to preheat a gas grill to medium-high heat (400°F), so it's nice and hot.
1. First, combine ricotta, garlic, lemon peel, lemon juice, as well as salt, and pepper in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir everything until it's well combined. Place some plastic wrap over the mixing bowl and allow the flavors to marinate together in the refrigerator.
2. Next, coat the baguette and peach slices with olive oil. Don't forget to add some salt and pepper to the baguettes for some added flavor.
I like to place the baguettes and peaches on a metal baking sheet to make transportation to the grill easy.
Assemble the Crostini
3. Now that we have everything prepared, it's time to grill the bread and peaches.
I like to first grill all of the baguette slices, and then move on to grilling the peaches. This makes it easier to keep an eye on one food item at a time to ensure they all cook evenly.
Grill the baguette slices for about 1-2 minutes per side until they are golden brown and you can see grill marks on each side. If you prefer a more lightly-toasted baguette, you can pull the bread off early.
Next, grill the peaches for 2 - 4 minutes per side. The peaches are delicate, so make sure you have a metal spatula to help with maneuvering the peaches on the grill.
4. Now for the fun part, assembling the crostini. Top each baguette with 1 tablespoon of the ricotta mixture.
5. Next, top each crostini with a slice of peach and a piece of basil.
6. Finally, drizzle some balsamic glaze over each crostini.
Once the crostini are done being assembled, I'd suggest immediately serving the crostini appetizer while they're hot! If you're feeling fancy you can serve the crostini alongside a peach and lemon rum cocktail.
Expert Tips
- Before grilling, remember to clean the grill grates. This will reduce the rust buildup on the grates, and ensure leftover buildup doesn't get stuck on the food.
- Allow the grill enough time to properly heat. It usually takes about 15 - 30 minutes for the grill to heat up to the recommended temperature.
- Need to make this appetizer ahead of time for a party? Try making the lemon ricotta mixture the night before or the morning of the party.
FAQs
It's important to grill the bread before adding the toppings to the crostini. The grilled bread has a crust, which prevents the ricotta from immediately getting the bread soggy.
Additionally, only add the toppings right before serving.
I'd suggest making the crostini right before serving it. Crostini is not the easiest food to reheat. If you have leftovers, it is possible to reheat the crostini in the toaster oven or air fryer. However, the bread normally remains a bit soggy if the crostini sits overnight.
It's best to serve the peach crostini while the bread and peaches are still warm.
More Summer Appetizers
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Grilled Peach and Ricotta Crostini
Ingredients
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon peel
- juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
- ¾ teaspoons Morton kosher salt divided
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper divided
- 1 baguette sliced into ¾ inch thick rounds
- 4 ripe peaches pitted and sliced ½ inch thick
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- fresh basil chiffonade (cut into long, thin strips)
- balsamic glaze for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat a gas grill to medium-high heat (400°F).
- Add ricotta, garlic, lemon peel, lemon juice, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper to a medium sized mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Cover the mixing bowl and set aside in the refrigerator for later use.
- Toss baguette rounds in 4 tablespoons of olive oil, then season with the remaining ¼ teaspoon kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Toss peach slices in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Place the baguette rounds and peach slices on a metal baking sheet for easy transportation out to the grill.
- Cook the baguette rounds covered over direct heat for 1 - 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown with grill marks.
- Cook the peach slices covered over direct heat for 2 - 4 minutes on each side, or until they become cooked through and soften. Use a metal spatula when flipping the cooked peaches and be delicate so they do not fall apart.
- Lay the baguette rounds on a serving tray or platter and top each slice with 1 tablespoon of the ricotta mixture. Next, lay a slice of peach on top and garnish with a piece of basil. Drizzle balsamic glaze over each crostini. Serve immediately.
Jaime
Obviously it's not peach season right now, but I made this recipe over the summer and wanted to tweak it for a recent cocktail party. We used pears instead of peaches and balsamic glaze instead of basil. It was a hit!!