Crostinis Three Ways - Sweet Pea Pesto

Crostinis are fun, simple finger foods that are great to make for a big party, such as the Super Bowl, because you can easily make them the day before and serve them up.  I did three different crostinis, one of which can be served as a dip more than a crostini.  See how versatile this food is?

First, the bread.  If you have day old French bread (or French stick as the Brits would say), slice it up real thin.  I personally like skinny French bread for this because you can make a two bite crostini.  Anything larger can make for a mess since the toppings aren't really anchored so well.  You heat up your oven's broiler.  And while that is warming up, spread your bread on a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with olive oil.  You can also sprinkle a little sea salt and pepper, but I left that out since I personally don't like too much salt on things.  You then pop it under the broiler for 2 or so minutes (depending on how good your broiler is), and then take them out when they are a nice golden brown.  Voila!  Perfect pieces of fancy toast!!!

So the first crostini recipe I'm sharing with you is the pea pesto.  It was the least favorite of the three I made, but it was probably the healthiest and most versatile of all the crostinis made.

All you need is a defrosted bag of sweet peas, some parmasan cheese, salt, pepper, and olive oil.  I added some cayenne pepper to mine to add a little kick to it.  You can also try adding a little wasabi powder too, if you can find it.  If you really aren't into spicy foods, you can just up the ante by adding a lot of salt to make a salty-sweet treat!  It's totally up to you how you want to make it work, but keep in mind that peas are really sweet.

When your peas are defrosted, put them in your food processor.  Add your spices and cheese.  I used about half a cup of cheese or so.  Close your food processor and have a quarter of a cup of olive oil or so ready to pour in while pulsing the peas.  DO NOT PUREE YOUR PEAS!!!  IT WILL BE LIQUIDY AND GROSS!!!  You want them to look like chunky guacamole.  Done!

You can serve this in a bowl with a side of pita chips.  Or you can use them as a topping for a crostini.  I added a halved grape tomato (or you can use cherry tomatoes) to add another layer of flavor and color contrast.

Bon appetit!

Thanks to Serge and Morgan for helping to plate and cut the bread.  Serge also took these photos.