"Twilight Serenade" Roasted Garlic and Cream Cheese Crostini with a baby spinach salad

"Twilight Serenade" Roasted Garlic and Cream Cheese Crostini with a baby spinach salad

INGREDIENTS

 

• 1 French loaf
• 250ml Cream cheese or cottage cheese
• 1 Head of Garlic
• 1 tub Cherry tomatoes
• 1 sprig Fresh Rosemary
• 500ml Olive oil
• 100ml Balsamic vinegar
• 1 Red onion
• 500ml White vinegar
• 250g Mixed seeds–sunflower, pumpkin
• 2 tsp Basil Pesto
• 1 head Baby spinach
• 100g Hard Italian cheese
• Salt & black pepper to taste

METHOD

1. Cook the Garlic, Rosemary and cherry tomatoes with 400ml olive oil in a pot until the Garlic turns alight brown colour. Let the contents cool down to room temperature.
2. Toast the mixed seeds in a pan until they start getting a brown colour. (Don’t toast them further than that) Let them cool down to room temperature.
3. Make the salad dressing mixing 100ml olive oil, balsamic vinegar and pesto together. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
4. Bring the white vinegar to a boil in a pot.
5. Cut the red onion into fine slivers and put them into a container that is heat safe with a lid.
6. Pour the boiling vinegar onto the red onions, making sure the onions are submerged. Close the container and let cool down to room temperature.
7. Crush the cooked (room temp) Garlic cloves into a rough paste using a fork.
8. Mix the Garlic and cream cheese or cottage cheese. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
9. Cut the baby spinach into smaller pieces and mix with the dressing, seeds, a few pickled red onion slivers and some grated hard Italian cheese.
10. Once you are almost ready to serve, cut the French loaf into thin slices and pan fry (toast) them in some of the Garlic infused Olive oil until golden brown.
11. Plate up as follows: Place 1 piece of toast per plate. Top with a big dollop of cream cheese mixture. Garnish with a few slivers of the pickled red onion. Each plate gets some of the salad next to the crostini, topped with a few cooked cherry tomatoes. Drizzle some of the Garlic infused olive oil onto the plate.

NOTES

Don’t overcook the Garlick and cherry tomatoes. Don’t let the seeds burn. Ensure the salad you plate up is coated in the dressing and not dripping, else your crostini will be vinegary.