^{Impress even your fancy friends with this sweet and savory blue cheese crostini. This pairing is bound to make a statement on your next charcuterie board. Blue cheese, fruits and the funkiest of all cheeses work together in the best ways possible.}

How does one possibly think that something like blue cheese and honey actually work? Well it does. I was originally introduced to blue cheese and sweets during a local food and wine festival years ago. I had a blue cheese soufflé topped with a tart compote and it was hands down one of the best cheese dishes I’ve ever had.

Ever since that soufflé I started adding something sweet to pair with my blue cheese on a board. Most recently the obsession has been honey on top of blue cheese on top of a crispy, crunchy mini toast (a melba toast if you will). That’s what has inspired this recipe (actually, it’s more of a flavor pairing suggestion).

Needing to amp this recipe a little more, I was itching to add some nutritional value. Fruit was the perfect solution for that. Going to the store in the middle of the summer, all the fresh produce ESPECIALLY stone fruit like peaches, nectarines, plums, and even cherries were hard to resist. During my most recent trip, I bought them all. I got super ambitious to make so many recipes. This was one of the first.

The other part about this recipe is that it’s absolutely perfect for a cheese board that needs variety. I always need a snack that pairs well with wine. Blue cheese is perfect with either red, white or sparkling wine. Something that is a little more fruit forward usually is a nice pairing with blue cheese. The fruit portion of this also is great with similar wines such as a cabernet or a Sauvignon Blanc. Not to get to into cheese board/charcuterie dos and don’ts list, this is one of those unique things that is a definite do!

All cheese boards need a variety of sweet, funky, crunchy, nutty, salty, tangy and buttery flavors to make little creations of your own. I highly suggest making sure that when you open another bottle of wine and throw together a spread, this should be a must! It’s perfect on a summer evening and speaking from personal experience, you’re destined to crave this snack over and over again!

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Blue Cheese, Stone Fruit & Honey Crostini

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Impress even your fancy friends with this sweet and savory blue cheese crostini. This pairing is bound to make a statement on your next charcuterie board. Blue cheese, fruits and the funkiest of all cheeses work together in the best ways possible.

Prep Time:20

Cook Time:10

Ingredients

1 10 oz. sourdough baguette sliced
nonstick cooking spray
4-5 ounces blue cheese wedge sliced/crumbled
1 large nectarine thinly sliced
1 large plum thinly sliced
¼ cup honey
sea salt to taste
cracked black pepper to taste
¼ cup basil julienne cut

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°.
Slice baguette into 1/2 cm cuts at an angle. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and lay the slices of bread onto the baking sheet and separate them so there is space in-between.
Spray the bread with a nonstick cooking spray or brush a little olive oil onto each piece on both sides. Bake for 6-9 minutes until the bread is slightly toasted around the edges and golden in the middle.
While the bread is toasting, slice the blue cheese. Remove the bread from the oven and sprinkle sea salt over the toasted crostini. Immediately top the crostini evenly with the blue cheese.
Slice both the nectarine and plum into very thin slices after omitting the pit from each. Layer evenly onto the blue cheese.
Sprinkle sea salt and cracked pepper on the fruit. Then evenly drizzle honey all over the crostini. Julienne the basil and evenly sprinkle this over all the toasts.
Serve immediately.

Notes

How long does it last and where?

OK, so I made this for a small group of people and when I say small group, I made it for myself and planned to eat it over the course of the next two days. Here’s the kicker, I’m not going to say it was as perfect as making it fresh, I’m just saying, don’t waste what you don’t eat in the first shot.

Store in a container in a single layer. I know this is going to sound weird but it’s actually a nice topping to a salad if you chop the loaded crostini up and throw them on some spinach, arugula or mixed greens. It’s fruit, cheese and a crouton added to your salad.

Can you freeze it?

Nope!

Substitutions?

This was just the way I wanted to make it because I knew the flavors worked but I can give you a few different swaps. With a million ways to Mars to edit or adjust the combos of this dish, I can almost assure you that almost all of them would work.

Mix out the blue cheese for…stilton, goat cheese, cream cheese, ricotta, burrata, feta, brie or gorgonzola. You definitely want something that’s on the softer side that melts a little better and can take on all these great toppings.

Swap out the bread for any baguette that is hearty and toasts up nicely such as french bread, whole wheat baguette, ciabatta or focaccia. If you want to get really crazy, imagine this combo on top of a toasted bagel in the morning. Why not?

Get creative with the fruit and choose one or even two different fruits. Peaches, plums, nectarines, mangos, cherries, apricots and even grapes are all great for this.

For the toppings you can easily nix the honey and add balsamic drizzle. Also for a garnish, top with mint, thyme, or even rosemary.

Tips and Tricks

This is such a simple recipe but there are a few things that help the process.

For the bread, it NEEDS to be toasted. It also helps when you plan on storing the leftovers because it holds up well in the fridge. The MAIN reason to toast the bread is to get that cheese on right when it comes out of the oven. That way it gently helps the melting process so the cheese sticks better to the bread.

Thinly sliced fruit is the way to go. It gives just enough tartness and sweetness to balance the cheese and not make the appetizer too sweet with the honey.

Sea salt and cracked black pepper are odd but perfect on top of the fruit. The salt makes the fruit a little more sweet. If you add a green garnish, I highly suggest thin slices of the herb and add it after the honey so it sticks instead of wilts.

What to serve with it?

This is just a another great addition to your cheese board or charcuterie!