While it sounds wonderful, I promise you my strawberry ricotta crostini with balsamic glaze and candied walnuts recipe is not just style but also plenty of substance. It is creamy and crunchy, gloriously sweet, and incredibly indulgent!

Strawberry Riccota Crostini

Appetizers don’t come much more flamboyant than this bite-sized, bread-based treat! I really went to town on this one, bringing together some indulgent sweet ingredients and flavors.

While it sounds like a lot is going on, this is still a simple recipe. If you’re planning a nice evening or really want to impress your dinner guests, start proceedings with this appetizer and a glass of something fizzy, like Prosecco.

I had a lot of fun putting this dish together, so I really hope you enjoy it. It’s rich, sweet, classy, and just a little bit naughty!

Ingredients

To make my strawberry ricotta crostini recipe, you’ll first need to assemble the following ingredients:

Baguette – about 20 baguette slices (from two small baguettes or one big baguette)
Olive Oil – 3 tbsp olive oil
Strawberries – 10 large strawberries (about 7 oz or 200grams)
Balsamic Glaze – 1 tbsp balsamic glaze
Ricotta – 8oz (225 g) ricotta
Honey – 1 tbsp (plus more to taste) honey
Candied Walnuts – 1/3 cup (to make candied walnuts at home, you’ll need 1/3 cup walnut halves and 2 tbsp sugar)
Arugula – a handful of arugula/rocket

Step 1 – Slice the baguette into 1/2-inch slices and brush the bread slices with olive oil on both sides. You should have around 20 slices.

Step 2 – Grill the bread slices for a couple of minutes on each side on an electric grill, a grill pan, or a regular grill.

Alternatively, you can bake the bread slices at 360°F (180°C) for about 10-12 minutes in the oven.

Step 3 – (optional) If you want to make the candied walnuts at home, first chop the walnut halves into smaller pieces. Then, to a pan, add the sugar in one even layer and wait for it to melt (don’t stir). Once melted, add the nuts and give everything a mix for about 30 seconds. Then transfer the nuts to a plate covered with baking paper and separate them out.

Step 4 – Add the ricotta and honey to a bowl and whip for about a minute with a whisk.

Step 5 – Cut the strawberries into little bite-sized cubes.

Step 6 – Add the chopped strawberries, balsamic glaze, and arugula to a bowl, and mix everything.

Step 7 – Top the bread slices with the ricotta-honey mixture.

Step 8 – Add the strawberry mixture on top.

Step 9 – Place the candied walnuts on top of the crostini.

I serve mine on a black slate serving board, which really compliments those gorgeous colors.

Under the right lighting, these treats glisten like gemstones. This really is fine dining, done in a fun, simple way.

If you’ve got some excess bread, why not try some of my other crostini recipes. You could compliment the sweetness with my smoked salmon and herb cream cheese crostinis.

Or, if you want another savory option, my creamy goat cheese and roasted pepper crostini could go down a treat with everyone.

Have lots of fun with this recipe. If you make it, let me know in the comments what you thought, and how much your guests enjoyed them.

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