3 x Crostini - Black Olive / Chicken Liver / Mushroom

Christmas Italian style! - great little pre dinner snacks


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Black olive crostini

Serves 6

200g black olives in brine, drained and de-stoned
2 dried red chillies, crumbled
2tbsp thyme leaves, washed
Black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
6 thick slices ciabatta bread
1 clove garlic

Place the olives, chilli and thyme in a food processor and pulse chop to a rough paste. Stir in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and black pepper. The mixture should be stiff. Toast the ciabatta slices on both sides. Rub one side with the garlic; spread the olive paste over.

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Chicken liver crostini

Serves 6

200g free-range organic chicken livers, cleared of any membrane, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled, 2 finely chopped
4 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
8 sage leaves, washed and chopped
200g unsalted butter
A splash of brandy
250ml Chianti Classico
6 thick slices ciabatta bread
Extra virgin olive oil

Heat half the butter in a thick-bottomed frying pan. Add the chopped garlic and sage. Cook briefly and then add the anchovies. Stir to combine before adding the livers. Turn up the heat and cook until the livers are beginning to brown. Add a splash of brandy, let it be absorbed, then add more butter. Continue to cook, adding a small amount of wine. As soon as it has been absorbed, add more butter and then wine. Keep repeating this process until the wine has been absorbed. The texture should be crumbly, the colour dark.

Toast the ciabatta slices on both sides. Rub one side with the whole clove of garlic, then spread with the chicken livers. Drizzle with olive oil and serve warm.

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Mushroom crostini

Serves 6

500g flat field mushrooms
50g dried porcini
3 cloves garlic, peeled (2 of them finely chopped)
1 dried red chilli, crumbled
Extra virgin olive oil
6 thick slices ciabatta bread

Remove stems from the field mushrooms and finely slice. Soak the porcini in warm water for 10 minutes, then remove from the water and rinse. Strain the soaking water and reserve.

In a small saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the porcini and cook gently for 5 minutes, adding some of the soaking water to keep them moist. Season with salt and pepper.

In a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil until very hot. Add the field mushrooms and cook until soft. Remove from pan and place in a strainer, pressing down to extract the juice.

Add 1 tsp olive oil to the pan. Add the chopped garlic and drained field mushrooms. Add chilli; stir to combine. Transfer all to a chopping board and chop roughly. Toast the ciabatta slices on both sides. Rub one side with the whole garlic clove and drizzle with olive oil. Place the mushrooms on top.
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