Today's Appetizer: Blue Cheese/Pear Crostini

If you have been following my blog regularly ( and I hope you have...., please, read me !! ) you must be sugar-comatose by now, so time for a change ! What's more, with the nice warm weather, one loves inviting friends for a casual drink...my favourite? A rosé d'Anjou...yes! as simple as that !!! a bottle must cost 6 euros, but "moi? J'adore !!!!" (I love it!), you see? I am not an "expensive" girl after all...(well....my husband does not have the same opinion ;D

So this type of "crostini" is perfect for evening drinks....and so easy to make !

I started writing this post after the Easter long weekend, that here in France included Monday. So Tuesday morning, when all the family left (Oh, glorious moment!) I hesitated between starting my "balcony gardening" (too cold outside, plants can wait)......

...doing the housework (depressing way of starting the after-long-weekend week)..., going to the gym (to lose the extra kilo gained succumbing to the pleasure and temptations of an Easter chocolaté in Paris...maybe too early for that ! ), or writing my post...planning my post!

So still dressed in my "robe de chambre", cup of coffee in my hand, I decided to write in my living room, inundated with soft morning spring light, ready to jot down ideas...but I got lost.. (Lost in Translation?)...no, I got lost in my musings...my mind was "suspended" like my chandelier...

.....my chandelierS ( have you found the 3?, kind of Where's Waldo game!) and my thoughts wandered from crystal to crystal....under the spell of the kaleidoscope of lights...and when the spell was broken....a long time had passed! well, clearly, as the Spanish singer, Joan Manuel Serrat says in one song..."the muses were on vacation", so I stood up, and briskly made my way to the kitchen, to give you these Blue Cheese / Pear Crostini, that I hope you'll enjoy...

This is what you need to make these blue cheese / pear crostini:

Click for the ingredients and recipe .......





(recipe for 2 big crostini, multiply according to your needs)


 * slices of bread, 2, (here I used Poilâne with nuts)
 * blue cheese (here Roquefort), 2 tablepoons + some extra to sprinke
 * mascarpone cheese, 2 tablespoons
 * pears, 1
 * mâche, or lettuce, or radish/alfalfa sprouts
 * nuts, coarsely chopped, 3
 * poppy seeds (optional)
 * butter, 1 tablespoon
 * balsamic vinegar (aceto balsamico), 1 tablespoon
 * olive oil, salt and pepper.

Take the 2 slices of bread ( even though crostini are sometimes thicker, I used thin slices, since it seems more refined to me), brush then with olive oil and toast them in the oven (180°C), 5', till they are crispy. For decoration, I brushed with oil the edges of the slices of bread to stick the poppy seeds. You can use other seeds if you want to, like linseeds...

Peel the pear, and slice it, not too thin, since you don't want a compote. Sautée the pear in the butter, till it begins to have a golden colour and it is slightly tender. Add a little sugar, but very little, to caramelise. The last minute, add one tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, to deglaze the pan. Remove from the fire. Reserve two big slices for decoration as you see in the pictures. Slice the rest in little cubes. 

Make a spread combining well the blue cheese and mascarpone. Spread it on your crostini. Place on top some green leaves (of your choice), the pear cubes, some little blue cheese cubes, some chopped nuts, the big slice of pear (to make your point!) and sprinkle the whole with the juices of the pear caramel. You can add some small untreated flower petals for extra colour.

Don't make it wait otherwise the crostini will lose its crispiness!

Difference between this photo and the first one? (Waldo again...) Here, I DID remember to add the blue cheese dice....I told you at the beginning....the muses were on vacation !

Enjoy !