Pear, feta & walnut crostini

71 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Pear, feta & walnut crostini

There is a distinct possibility that I will turn into a chunk of feta cheese before this week’s out. Yes, my serious feta cheese addiction has grabbed ahold of me with a vengeance since Mr. Scrummy and I arrived in Greece for a little visit last week. It doesn’t help that there are at least 10 varieties in even the smallest local supermarket and that you can buy big tubs of it for pretty much the same price as a tiddly little package back at home.

So what’s a girl to do but try to find a way to channel her ‘little problem’ into something lovely for today’s post? And this pear, feta & walnut crostini is what I came up with …

Pears!

The inspiration for this, as for the roasted red pepper & eggplant dip in my last post, came from last week’s local market trip. As well as scooping up piles of huge ripe tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and olives for our daily (well, OK, twice daily) Greek salads, we also couldn’t resist grabbing a few of these cute little rosy pears. The idea of using them for a topping on a crostini came to me as I took a look around our kitchen here and was reminded of the lack of baking dishes, equipment and appliances. I realised that I would probably have to keep what I make on the simpler side while we’re over here … not that this is any kind of hardship! The fresh ingredients I picked up don’t really need, after all, a whole lot doing to them to make them shine.

Pear, feta & walnut crostini

Feta cheese and fruit and feta cheese and honey are tried and tested combinations, so I was pretty sure that combining ripe slices of pear with feta cheese and honey would go down a treat! I’ve also seen walnuts thrown into a salad with pears and cheese before, so walnuts got added to my crostini, as well. As did a little touch of fresh mint which I thought would add a welcome hint of colour and ‘oomph’ to the final taste.

The resulting crostini made a very satisfying late morning snack for myself and Mr. Scrummy. Very satisfying indeed. Just imagine those juicy, ripe pears contrasting with the sourness of the cheese, the crunchy earthiness of the walnuts, the sweet hit of honey and the touch of freshness from the chopped mint leaves. Am I making you hungry for a little snack yet?

Pear, feta & walnut crostini

Before piling on my toppings, I prepared my crostini bread in the traditional Italian way (and who can argue with that?) by toasting it on both sides under the grill and then rubbing it briefly with a clove of garlic and drizzling it with good quality olive oil. Then all I did was lay a slice of feta and slices of pear on each piece of toast before drizzling with honey and scattering over walnut pieces and shredded bits of fresh mint. The crostini looked very pretty like this for serving, but to be honest when I ate it I ended up breaking up the slice of feta and scattering it all over the crostini rather than keeping it at one end. If you prefer the sound of getting a bit of everything in each bite, then simply crumble up your feta and scatter your toppings a bit more haphazardly over the toast than you see in these pictures of mine.

Pear, feta & walnut crostini

Mmm … divine. Honey is sometimes known as the food of the gods, but I’m going to stick my neck out here and say that this is the crostini of the gods! Enjoy!

Want to save this recipe?
Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you'll get new recipes from us every week!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
No ratings yet

Pear, feta & walnut crostini

A traditional Italian crostini topped with pear slices, feta cheese, walnuts, honey and shreds of fresh mint. The sweet & savoury flavours balance each other out beautifully!
Prep: 10 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients 
 

  • slices of fresh crusty bread e.g. ciabatta
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped in half
  • good quality extra virgin olive oil
  • thin -ish slices of feta cheese
  • 1 or 2 pears, chopped in half, cored and sliced into thin slices
  • honey to drizzle
  • walnuts, broken roughly into pieces
  • fresh mint, chopped into thin shreds

Instructions 

  • Toast the bread on both sides under a grill. Then rub over briefly with the cut side of the garlic and drizzle with the olive oil.
  • Now top each piece of toast with a slice of feta and 4 or 5 of the pear slices. Drizzle with honey, then scatter over the walnut pieces and mint. Serve while the toast is still warm.

Notes

Rub the pear slices with the cut side of half a lemon to keep them from going brown.

Nutrition

Calories: 26kcal, Carbohydrates: 7g, Potassium: 51mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin C: 2.1mg, Calcium: 4mg, Iron: 0.1mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

 

I hope you enjoyed this post! You can subscribe to receive posts directly to your inbox (for free, of course!) by clicking here or entering your email address into the box at the top of the sidebar on the right.

You can also find more from Scrummy Lane on FacebookPinterestTwitter and Instagram and follow me on Bloglovin! Thanks so much for reading!

*This post may contain affiliate links which means that if you click on a link and make a purchase I get a small percentage of the amount you spend. At no extra cost to you, of course! Thank you!*

About Helen Schofield

Don't expect to find anything fussy or complicated here. Just QUICK, EASY & (mostly!) HEALTHY recipes from the Mediterranean and beyond. ENJOY!

You May Also Like:

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

71 Comments

  1. Oh I can “just imagine those juicy, ripe pears contrasting with the sourness of the cheese, the crunchy earthiness of the walnuts, the sweet hit of honey and the touch of freshness from the chopped mint leaves” and I am drooling! I so so love the contrast in flavors in these delicate crostinis!

    1. Thank you so much, Shashi! I’m really happy my description struck a chord with you! 🙂

  2. This is such a healthy appetizer! I love the combination of pear and feta, and these walnuts here add a wonderful nutty flavor. Pour me a glass of chilled white, I think it’s perfect enough for V-day’s brunch 🙂

  3. LOVE these crostini! So delicious and it’s such a tasty idea to add feta! 😀

  4. Yum! I’m salivating over the walnut/pear/feta combo. Crostini is the best!

  5. The simplicity of this is what makes it so perfect. I can just imagine all the fresh Greek ingredients and am totally jealous!

    1. You’re so right, Chrissy. As you’ve probably noticed, simple recipes are my ‘thang’!

  6. I feel the same way about feta and halloumi too! That salty flavour is so good and hard to put down too! 😀

    1. Ooh, now you’ve given me an idea – halloumi would be pretty good on a crostini like this, too!

  7. haha please don’t turn into a chunk of feta cheese!! But I so know what you mean! Cheese is awesome 🙂

    These crostini look awesome – I cannot get enough of pears right now and with the feta and walnuts??

    1. Teehee … I’ll try my best not to actually turn into cheese … 😉
      Glad you like the crostini … pears, where have you been all my life?

  8. Oh yeah, you are making me hungry Helen! Feta cheese goes well with fruit and honey for sure! I always have feta in the fridge and will definitely try this recipe! Nice for a snack of appetizer. Pinned of course 🙂

    1. I feel like you ‘get’ where I’m coming from when I make my Mediterranean recipes, Mira! I totally approve of always having feta in the fridge!