Hi everyone, it’s finally the weekend again and like most of the time, I’m finding myself wanting an ice cold Surfside vodka iced tea. I drink an unholy amount of them. Perfect for sipping while making these crostini’s. They’re a huge hit every time and pretty easy to make. Here’s my recipe.

• One package of cherry tomatoes, sliced into halves or quarters.
• Balsamic vinegar, 3 tablespoons
• Extra virgin olive oil, 8 tablespoons total. 3-4 for the baguette and 4 for the bruschetta.
• 2 large and in charge cloves of garlic minced. Measure with your heart here. Maybe you don’t want to horrify your spouse with a goodnight kiss. Maybe you want to repel Dracula and friends. Up to you.
• Fresh basil leaves, chiffonade. I recommend stacking them all on top of each other and rolling them all up. Then slice and dice. Makes it easier to get the ribbons nice and uniform.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Baguette, cut at about a half inch at an angle.
• Italian seasoning, do the Italian hands when you use it. It’s the law.
• Mozzarella, do the pre-sliced in the tube you see at the cheese island. Belgioioso fresh mozzarella is what you’re looking for.
• Prosciutto, any brand will do.
• Balsamic glaze, not necessary, but adds a little extra punch at the end.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. I’m always accidentally serving dinner at 9 p.m. and I’m gonna blame our oven, which is ridiculously slow to heat up. It’s not my relentless goofing off or wasting time judging the neighbors from my porch. I swear. Place the sliced cherry tomatoes in a medium sized bowl. Add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic cloves, salt and pepper, basil, and Italian seasoning. Mix until well combined and set aside. Place the slices of baguette on an oven safe tray. Drizzle the olive oil onto each slice. You can brush it on too, which helps to distribute the oil nicely. Put some salt and fresh cracked black pepper on each slice and a shake or two of Italian seasoning. As stated, doing the Italian hands is a must with this step. Stick it in the oven for five minutes while making a second drink. Perhaps a Moscow Mule.

When the slices are toasted and crispy on the edges, take them out of the oven and let them cool. Eat one. Bread tax. You have to make sure it’s not poisonous for your family. Next, take the mozzarella and take out enough slices to cover each slice of bread. 1:1 ratio of baguette slice to cheese. Place the cheese onto a paper towel and pat dry. Dryer than the Sahara. That’s important. It can get watery if you don’t adequately dry them. Feel free to cut the cheese slices in half if you’re not a huge cheese person (disturbing behavior), or if you run out cheese and need extra. Put a slice of cheese on each piece of the toasted baguette. Shove this back in the oven at 350 again for about 7-8 minutes to allow for the cheese to melt. I don’t recommend broiling it. Broiling rarely ends well for me.

When the cheese is melted, take them out of the oven and place on the stove or another sturdy surface. Mix up the bruschetta mixture from before one last time to recombine as the vinegar and oil may have separated a bit. That’s normal if it’s not totally combined. Start spooning about a teaspoon of bruschetta onto each slice. Feel free to spoon the leftover juices onto the slices too for extra flavor. Start tearing the prosciutto with your hands into bite size pieces and place onto each baguette slice. You probably won’t use the whole package. Something else you can do if you feel adventurous is fry up the prosciutto. It’s fatty, so no oil required in the pan. Stick it in a pan on medium low heat and stir every 30 seconds or so until crispy. Takes maybe 2 minutes and really brings out the flavor. Fantastic addition if you’re up for it! Lastly, put a drizzle of balsamic glaze on each slice. Serve and enjoy! This is a real crowd pleaser and perfect to serve when you’re hosting a get together or party. I feel compelled to tell you, I made this last night and while I type this, I’m eating a three star Michelin meal of buttered noodles with parmesan. Total Barefoot Contessa stuff. Come back tomorrow for my vision board demo!