Recipe: Baby Bella & Sausage Crostini with Bleu Cheese

Tasty little mushroom and sausage nibbles that are a perfect light appetizer when entertaining.

For me, recipe development is a very stream of consciousness type of thing, with one thought leading to another and before you know it, here we are with a new recipe. Inspiration can come from anywhere … a season, fresh produce, something random I saw on tv, farmer’s market goods, or a craving. Yesterday, while grabbing a few things off my grocery list at the store, I spied a basket of warm baguettes. And all of the sudden, I wanted crostini.

But not your every day summer crostini of mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, and basil.

Something a little left of that.

How about a nice thin, crispy slice of baguette topped with sauteed baby bella mushrooms, sausage, and bleu cheese?

Oh yes.

Truth be told, I am forever looking for more ways to use bleu cheese.

The sausage I used was a pork sausage roll from Jones Dairy Farm. All natural ingredients and very gently spiced, it goes perfectly with the woodsiness of the baby bella mushrooms, and needs no extra spices or fancy ingredients. And because neither of my kids like mushrooms, this is an appetizer recipe I don’t have to share. Ok, well, I shared with friends next door. A little topping of melted bleu cheese, and it’s a nice little savory bite that comes together in about 15-20 minutes, give or take interruptions from little people.

Baby Bella and Sausage Crostini with Bleu Cheese
Recipe courtesy of Cate O’Malley

Ingredients
half a baguette, sliced thin
8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
two garlic cloves, sliced
extra virgin olive oil
12 oz Jones Dairy Farm pork sausage roll
bleu cheese (I used Point Reyes)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375F. Arrange the baguette slices in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the baguettes and toast in oven until golden brown, about 9 minutes. Cool.

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Remove from heat, put the mushrooms on a plate on the side. Wipe pan clean, add the sausage roll to the pan, breaking it into small pieces. Cook until no longer pink and the sausage starts to get slightly crispy, about five minutes. Add the mushrooms back to the pan and stir to combine.

Gently pile the mushroom and sausage mixture on top of the crostini and top with a little bit of bleu cheese. Pop back into the oven for just a minute or two until the cheese melts. Transfer to serving platter. Serve warm.

Notes:
If you don’t love bleu cheese as much as I do, fontina or Parmesan would make a delicious substitution.

*I was compensated for developing this recipe through my work with Jones Dairy Farm. Thank you for supporting the brands that support my family.