Goats cheese and caramelised red onion are a match made in heaven, so I thought they’d make the perfect toppings for these crostinis. Along with added sweetness from the roasted pumpkin and cherry tomatoes.
It was around Halloween time that I decided to experiment with pumpkin to create these crostinis. I don’t know about you, but pumpkin isn’t always something that springs to mind when it’s time cook. I suppose that’s because it’s quite a seasonal vegetable. So they’re perfect for Autumn. However, I think they’re great all year round; and you can swap out the pumpkin for normal butternut squash if you fancy.
I just love the flavour these crostinis bring to the table!
The sweet caramelised onion goes so so SO well with the sharp and tangy goat’s cheese – best combo ever! Then you’ve got the pop of warm spiced pumpkin, juicy sweet tomatoes and refreshing basil.
How do I make vegan crostinis?
So that’s pretty simple. The only thing stopping these from being vegan is the goat’s cheese. Instead, you can opt out of adding goats cheese at all, or you could experiment with your choice of vegan cheese from the supermarket.
If you manage to make these crostinis, let me know what you think in the comments. I hope you have a lovely day!
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- Sourdough Bread (4-6 large slices), lightly toasted.
- Mix Tomato Puree (1 tablespoon)
- Garlic Puree (1 teaspoon)
- Free-From Pesto (1 teaspoon)
- Pasata (100g).
- One third of a small pumpkin peeled, sliced.
- Cumin (1/2 teaspoon)
- Black Pepper
- Paprika (1/4 teaspoon)
- Chilli Powder (1/4 teaspoon)
- Rapeseed Oil.
- 1 sliced Sweet Red Pepper
- 1 x Red Onion
- Balsamic Vinegar (2 tablespoons)
- Golden Caster Sugar (1 tablespoon)
- Goats Cheese
- 8 Cherry Tomatoes (halved)
- 1 Fresh Red Chilli
- 5 Fresh Basil leaves finely chopped
- Mixed herbs
- Very lightly toast each slice of sourdough in the toaster.
- Evenly coat the pumpkin slices in the cumin, black pepper, paprika, chilli powder & a generous drizzle of rapeseed oil. Roast at 180C for 20 mins on a baking tray. Turn at the half-way point and add the sweet red pepper to roast for the remaining 10 mins. You can use this cooking time to prepare other toppings.
- Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce in a bowl by mixing together the tomato puree, garlic puree, pesto and pasata. Place to one side.
- Fry off the red onion in the balsamic vinegar and caster sugar until soft. Place to one side.
- Once the pumpkin and pepper is cooked, take out the oven and place to one side.
- Add 2 teaspoons of tomato sauce to each piece of toast. Then top with the Spiced Pumpkin, Sweet Red Pepper, Caramelised Onion and Cherry Toms. Crumble over a little Goats Cheese on each.
- Return the toasts to the grill and cook until the toast and goats cheese begin to brown.
- To serve, sprinkle over the fresh red chilli, basil and mixed herbs.
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