Caprese Crostini with Homemade Pesto
Published March 24, 2019
Caprese Salad History
Caprese salad is a popular Italian dish that you may have had before. It originated between 1920 and 1950 as a patriotic recipe using ingredients that are the color of the Italian flag: fresh mozzarella, slices of tomatoes, and fresh basil.
The original recipe doesn’t call for balsamic vinegar over top — but individuals may add it based on their preferences.
Caprese Crostini with Homemade Pesto
Using the homemade pesto recipe from last week — I decided to build on the fresh Italian ingredients to create a type of caprese salad (using crostini).
Ingredients for Caprese Crostini with Homemade Pesto
You can find the homemade pesto recipe here.
As you can see, everything about the caprese crostini calls for fresh ingredients. The fresher the ingredients, the better the flavor.
If you grow your own vegetables and herbs, this is a great summer recipe since you can pick the ingredients right from your garden.
Since I made this in winter — I went to my local farmer’s market to buy the bread, tomatoes, and basil. I always have blocks of mozzarella cheese on hand.
Caprese Crostini with Homemade Pesto Instructions
Once you’ve made your homemade pesto, it takes less than 10 minutes to assemble your caprese crostini.
All you have to do for this recipe is cut and arrange your crostini. If you have fancy cut-outs you can try to use the designs in your ingredients as you assemble the stacks. You can also use toothpicks in the center to keep everything in place when serving.
I cut everything on angles, and stacked the cheese and tomatoes on top of a generous spread of pesto. They were eaten too quickly to worry about adding toothpicks!
The Final Product
The Flavor
Garlicky pesto, lightly toasted bread, cold mozzarella, juicy tomato, and sweet basil — you can’t beat it!
As I mentioned in the history of caprese salad, you could drizzle some olive oil or balsamic over top your caprese crostini. I thought the pesto had enough oil and cheese that I didn’t need to add more on top.
Caprese is one of those recipes where you want the ingredients to shine, so masking them with too many flavors or toppings can detract from that.
Serving
This particular serving made 10-12 crostini. I cut my bread in thicker slices. You could probably get more servings from one large Italian bread if you cut the bread thinner.
Considering this is an appetizer/snack you would have to double the recipe (and pesto) to have several crostini for 5-6 people.
K. Martinelli Makes Caprese Crostini with Homemade Pesto
Looking for More Appetizers?
If you loved this caprese crostini with homemade pesto, check out my other appetizer recipes by clicking here.
