Looking for an original finger food for cocktail hour or antipasto (the Italian word for “starter”: anti meaning “before” and pasto meaning “meal”)? An assortment of Italian crostini recipes is easy and makes for a pretty platter. Crostini are small toasted bread rounds and the different kinds of spreads that you can make are infinite. Perhaps the most famous crostino and one you’ve probably tasted is the bruschetta (pronounced: brus-KE-ta). You can’t really go wrong when you start with a piece of toasted bread sprinkled with a good quality olive oil and salt (some people like to rub fresh garlic on the bread) but the bruschetta covered with fresh tomatoes cut into little pieces, chopped basil and salt is a classic Italian starter.

Here are some other spreads that you can make to place on your assorted crostini platter.

Salsa di Olive  (Black Olive Spread)

200 gr (7oz). tuna
150 gr (5 oz). pitted black olives
4 fillets of acciughe or alicei
2 Tbs mustard
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 clove garlic
1 Tbs chopped parsley
olive oil

Preparation for Salsa di Olive

Place all (except the oil) in a blender or food processor and mix well. With motor going, add the olive oil in a thin stream just enough to create the proper consistency for spreading.

Crema di Carciofi  (Artichoke Spread)

4 medium artichokes
1 meat cube
pepper
1-2 cloves garlic
chopped fresh parsley and basil
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup olive oil
grated parmesan
1 egg yoke
heavy cream

Preparation for Crema di Carciofi

Peal outer leaves off of the artichokes until you’ve arrived at the very tender part. Cut off points. Cut in half scoop out feathery centers and then cut into very small pieces. Place in frying pan with meat cube, dash of pepper, garlic (squeezed or finely chopped), chopped parsley and basil, wine and olive oil and let simmer until the artichokes are tender. Put all in blender or food processor and cream together with grated parmesan and the egg yoke, adding heavy cream if necessary to get the proper consistency for spreading.

Crema di Funghi Porcini (Porcini Mushroom Spread)

1 cup dried porcini mushrooms
1 lb small white mushrooms, sliced
olive oil
dry white  wine
1 clove of garlic
2 Tbs butter
3 Tbs flour
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 meat cube
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation for Crema di Funghi Porcini

Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in tepid water for at least 1 hour. Then drain, squeeze out excess liquid with your hands and cut into pieces.

Squeeze the garlic in a frying pan with olive oil. Add the sliced white mushrooms and the porcini mushroom pieces and sauté until tender, adding white wine to keep from drying out and sticking to the pan. Transfer all to blender or food processor and grind but not cream.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter and stir in flour until bubbly. Take off heat and with a wire whisk, stir in the half-and-half. Return to heat, add meat cube and nutmeg and cook and stir until mixture thickens. Stir in mushrooms.

Rewarm before spreading on crostini and serving.

Pesto di Pomodori Secchi (Sun-dried Tomato Spread)

400 grams sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
30 grams pine nuts
20 grams almonds
fresh basil
peperoncino seeds (spicy Italian peppers), optional
20 grams capers preserved in salt, optional

Preparation for Pesto di Pomodori Secchi

Drain the tomatoes and place, together with all other ingredients in a blender or food processor and grind slightly (should still be somewhat grainy). Taste. It shouldn’t be necessary to add salt because sun dried tomatoes have been preserved in oil and salt. If the consistency isn’t right, correct with a very little bit of olive oil.

For those that like a stronger, spicier taste, you can add 20 gr. of capers (preserved under salt but rinsed and drained) and peperoncino seeds.