Feta Cheese Cucumber Crostini

What’s your favorite part of going to eat at an Italian restaurant? I can’t lie, the warm bread that they serve as a starter with olive oil and seasonings it’s a definite favorite of mine. I decided to come up with a homemade Mediterranean crostini that was easy and that I usually have all the ingredients for. That’s how I came up with this Feta Cheese Cucumber Crostini recipe. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

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Crostini vs Bruschetta

Both these appetizers are similar. They are both toasted or warm slices of bread that are topped with either sweet and savory goodies (or a combination), served as appetizers or finger food in cocktail parties. I see crostini as a smaller version of bruschetta, usually made out of baguette slices. Also, crostini can be more crispy. I tend to let it toast more than bruschetta bread.

Mediterranean Tradition

As most of you know I grew up in a small Mediterranean country, Albania. We bought fresh, warm bread daily from the local bakery. My parents would send me to buy bread and by the time I got home the crusty, corner of the bread was always missing. I used to eat it while walking back home:). Feta cheese and olives were a typical accompaniment of bread. So these feta cheese cucumber crostini with olive oil & olives remind of my childhood days and flavors of the Mediterranean.

Notes & Tips for Making Crostini

Here are some of my notes and tips for making this recipe. First it is extremely easy to make. Secondly, it allows for a lot of flexibility and I will share those options below.

• Pick the bread of your choice, it can be baguette or artisanal bread. I used a french country bread because I bought 2 of it and one was leftover.
• You can use leftover bread.
• You can make the crostinis ahead of time, store them in an airtight container and freeze them. Then when you need them, just throw them in the toaster over until the bread slices are warm and crispy.
• When using fresh bread, there’s no need to crisp much because it already tastes amazed. I tend to increase the amount of time I toast or warm up the bread the older it is. I feel like it brings out the flavor better (don’t burn the bread though :)), that won’t help lol ).
• Prep the feta cheese by crumbling it with a fork, just press on it and it will crumble.
• You can use other toppings if you don’t like feta cheese. I’m partial to it because I grew up with it and it reminds me back home. But goat cheese, brie and other cheeses would be delicious too.
• Also, to crisp the bread you can use a toaster, toaster oven, grill or regular oven. Usually I brush olive oil on the slices and toast them until the edges become golden.
• If you are cooking or setting up a Mediterranean recipe and you need to use cucumbers, always use English cucumbers (this tip is mostly for my American audience). English cucumbers are the closest you’ll find to the cucumbers in the Mediterranean so you want the flavors to be consistent.
• An alternative to this crostini when you have leftover bread (if you’re not entertaining) is toasting the slices of bread and having them with Albanian Tarator on a hot summer night.

Here are the ingredients I used for this crostini.

RECIPE

If you would like to save this recipe for later, please save the below image to Pinterest. Feel free to tag me in social media or contact me with any questions when you are making this recipe:).

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If you are looking for a sweet-salty crostini combo, please check out this Pear Brie Crostini recipe.

More Mediterranean Recipes

Here are some other Mediterranean recipes from my blog. Enjoy and thank you for reading:)

• Sour Cream Dip with Walnuts
• Cold Cucumber, Yogurt Soup
• Watermelon, Feta Cheese Snack