Roasted Tomato & Garlic Crostini with Truffle Sea Salt
If you’ve never had the pleasure of eating a truffle the next best thing, in my humble opinion, is truffle oil. That was until I sampled white truffle sea salt! John and I were food shopping and we never pass the cheese section of Whole Foods without buying…well almost never. We asked what was new which can be a difficult task as we’ve tried a lot over the past year. Jason told us about the Gouda infused with black truffles and immediately my eyes lit up. John isn’t a huge fan of truffles but like a dutiful husband said he’d try a sample. He liked it! Yay! We bought a wedge and then were asked if we had tried truffle sea salt. Jason said his favorite way is to sprinkle it on roasted tomatoes and bread. That sounded so good we bought the 1-ounce bottle.
Truffle is an edible fungus and grows underground. The white truffle is found in northern Italy while the black truffle grows in the south of France. When eaten raw like mushrooms they don’t taste like their aroma because their gasses aren’t emitted until the acid in our stomach breaks it down and the flavor – get ready for this – is released in a burp! However, if a truffle is thinly shaved and added to a hot dish it is the heat that releases some of the gas allowing one to savor the truffle taste.
rustic farm bread
8 cloves of garlic (more if you like), skin on
campari tomatoes, sliced thick
fresh mozzarella, sliced
olive oil
white truffle sea salt
Preheat oven to 350f (180c). Place tomato slices on a baking sheet along with garlic cloves. Drizzle olive oil over tomatoes and garlic. Roast 15 to 18 minutes or until garlic is soft and tomato slices have begun to shrivel. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. The skin on each clove of garlic should be easy to remove. Place garlic in a bowl and mash. Brush a bit of olive oil on both sides of the bread and grill. If you don’t have a grill or bbq, use a toaster and brush a bit of olive oil on after toasting the bread. Add mashed garlic to the bread and top with mozzarella followed by tomato slices. Finish with a pinch of truffle sea salt and drizzle with olive oil.
The Culinary Chase’s Note: This was out of this world and I made it twice over the weekend it was that good! The second time I mixed goat cheese with the roasted garlic cloves…it was very difficult to choose which one was better. The truffle salt elevated this already delicious appetizer to a new taste sensation! Let me know what you think. Enjoy!
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Thank you!