White Anchovy Bruschetta

Impress friends and family with this tasty appetizer!

White Anchovy Bruschetta: Makes 20 pieces.

-Sourdough baguette

-20 white anchovy halves

-About 10 pitted Castelvetrano green olives

-4 Roma tomatoes

-1 tablespoon pine nuts

-2 cloves garlic

-4 tablespoons olive oil

-1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

- Salt and Pepper to taste

Prepare the crostini:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the baguette into 20, half-inch pieces and lay them onto a cookie sheet. Mince 2 cloves of garlic and add them in a small bowl with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Spoon the garlic and olive oil onto each slice of bread, then bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes until the bread is nicely toasted.

Roast the Roma tomatoes on a grill, evenly on all sides. (Skin may start to peel away but keep the skins. *You can also roast them in a cast iron skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil.) Allow a few minutes for the grilled tomatoes to cool on a plate. Using your hands, break the tomatoes open, allowing the watery juice and seeds to bleed out and then place them in a food processor. (This is an important step, as the watery juice and seeds will make your mixture bitter.) Blend the tomatoes, pine nuts, olive oil, mint, and salt and pepper to taste until it has a relish-like consistency. Then cool the tomato mixture in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before using.  

Add a spoonful of the tomato mixture onto each slice of bread. Slice the Castelvetrano olives in half so you can carefully thread a white anchovy through the center. Top each bruschetta slice with an olive/anchovy piece and serve.