Balsamic Strawberry and Goat Cheese Crostini

Strawberry and goat cheese crostini for the win!

Recently I made a last-minute plan to have a few people over. I wanted a snack, but not the usual chips and salsa. I looked in my fridge and found an unopened tube of goat cheese and a quart of strawberries. Because these days, there’s almost always a quart of strawberries in my fridge. I’m making alllll the strawberry things right now. And I’m not looking to stop any time soon.

I also had a ciabatta that I was going to use for something else, so that gave me an idea. Strawberries are usually desserts, or haphazardly throwing into some yogurt, but what about some sort of sweet and savory appetizer? One that is simple, but impressive. That’s what I was going for here, and I have to say, I nailed it.

There are much more elaborate ways to make something like this, but if you have good strawberries, this simple strawberry and goat cheese crostini couldn’t be better.

You’ll start by thinly slicing your bread, brushing it with olive oil and garlic powder and toasting it. If garlic sounds like a weird match for strawberries, well, you are wrong. Promise.

Once the bread is toasted, you’ll smear it with softened goat cheese. Add some strawberries, drizzle with balsamic vinegar (I just got an amazing one from Imperfect Foods — if you want to get $80 worth of free groceries, click here) and finish with coarse ground black pepper and coarse sea salt.  The coarse black pepper is a must here. Again, might sound weird, but it’s delicious.

These make a delicious appetizer, snack, or as in my case, lunch. This is best made with in season, sweet, juicy strawberries, so if you’re thinking about making this, get on it fast before it’s too late!