Canapé: (noun) /can-ah/pay/ An appetizer consisting of a piece of bread
or toast or cracker topped with a savory spread
My husband’s older brother and sister both live in Chicago
and when we were in college, he and I loved to take weekend trips to visit them
in the big city. One of the things I loved about my future brother &
sister-in-law is that they always took us out for really good food. There
wasn’t a whole lot of culture or culinary choices in the small
northern-Michigan town I grew up in, so whenever I got the chance to go to
Chi-Town I wanted to taste everything.
The first caprese salad I encountered was during one such
trip when big-sister Sarah introduced us to one of her favorite Italian
restaurants, Mia Francesca. I was so impressed by how such a simple array of
ingredients could offer so much flavor; the creamy mozzarella, sweet tomatoes
and crisp, fresh basil was such a tasty combination – I could have just eaten
that as my meal!
Lookin' all swank-a-fied at the Edison Boat Club!
(Edison as in Thomas Edison. Yeah, Detroit's got it like that.)
Over the summer my friend got married at a pretty swanky
country club along the Detroit River. It was one of those schmancy receptions where the
servers walk around in tuxedos carrying trays of bubbly drinks and yummy finger
foods. During this reception we were served caprese salad as a canapé,
which in short means “small bite”. This appetizer combined the salad items I
loved with another one of my great
loves, crostini, or crazy-delicious-toasted-oily-seasoned-bread. (I love bread
so much, you guys.)
Technically, they're my husband's cousins, but I've claimed
them as my own!
John Paul ain't too proud to hang with the girls -
as long as there's food involved!
Shortly after the wedding, I hosted a small dinner party for a few of my
girl-cousins (Hubby tagged along, too. The man does not turn down an opportunity to eat, regardless of the estrogen
level in the room.) Since it would be just us girls (and John Paul!) I decided
to make up a menu of dainty yet hardy little finger foods. After falling in
love with it at the wedding, I couldn't get caprese canapés out of my brain, and decide
to make my own version for this little shindig. As my cousins and one happy
husband gobbled them off the tray, I knew I had created a simple, delicious
and really affordable appetizer that would continue to makes appearances at
future parties to come.
Ingredients Needed:
This amount served a party of 6
- crostini, about 24 pieces (You can buy pre-sliced pieces or just slice your own baguette. I used “toasted garlic bread slices” bought at an Italian market because they’re extra crunchy, well seasoned and it saved me precious time!)
- 2 to 3 ripe Roma tomatoes
- 8oz. fresh mozzarella cheese
- fresh basil, one leaf per canapé
- olive oil for drizzling
- salt & pepper to taste
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
Place the crostini on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.
Thinly slice the roma tomatoes and layer each crostini with enough to cover the surface area. Salt and pepper to taste.
Don't pile on too many toppings!
When making canapés keep in mind that you're making the perfect bite - not building a sandwich.
Place one basil leaf per canapé on top of the tomato.
Thinly slice the mozzarella and place it on top, again trying to cover as much of the surface area as possible. Don't worry about your slices looking perfect - once the cheese melts in the oven these will look much better!
Bake the crostinis at 400 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes. Serve immediately and get-your-snack-on!
What party foods do YOU like to serve?
I would love to hear about it!
Share your stories (and photos if you have them!) with me at
Email me! thatbusygirllife@gmail.com
Follow me on Twitter! @thatbusygirl
Blair Clark is a wife, teacher, dog-mother, mentor, wanna-be-chef, recipe collector, crafter, painter, novice photographer, thrifter, writer, marriage ministry leader, Sunday school teacher and blogger. In short, she's a busy girl! Blair lives and blogs from the suburbs of Detroit with her handsome hubby and perfect Chocolate lab.
Brought to you by That Busy Girl!
No comments:
Post a Comment