Mascarpone Crostini and Tomato Conserve
Crostini:
- ¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted
- butter, clarified
- 24 thin slices French bread
- 6 cups ½-inch-diced peeled blanched tomatoes
- 4 cups sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 tablespoon whole cloves
- 2 lemons, peeled, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch dice
- 1 orange, peeled, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch dice
- 2 cups (about 1 pound) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
- 12 sprigs fresh cilantro, for garnish
Instructions:
Mascarpone Crostini and Tomato Conserve makes a delicious appetizer.
- For the crostini, preheat the oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, warm the clarified butter and pour it out on a jelly-roll pan. Dip the top side of each slice of bread in the butter and place, unbuttered side down, on a separate baking sheet. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Remove the pan from the oven and cool the bread to room temperature on a wire rack.
- For the tomato conserve, in a noncorrosive saucepan combine the tomatoes, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, lemons,and orange. Simmer gently for 30 minutes over low heat. Drain the conserve, reserving the juice and setting aside the tomato mixture. Place the juice in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook until reduced by half. Pour the juice over the tomato mixture and refrigerate until chilled.
- For the topping, use a pallet knife to spread an equal portion of the cheese onto each of the crostini. Follow with an equal portion of the tomato conserve on each.
- To serve the crostini, arrange two crostini on each of twelve plates, and garnish each plate with a sprig of cilantro.