Crostini with Roasted Peppers, Goat Cheese, Lemon, Honey and Mint

Do you want to taste the most delicious crostini appetizer ever? According to me and my husband of course...I made these for my husband for our belated Valentine's date night the Saturday after Valentine's Day. The kids had a sleep over at their aunt's and my husband and I got to have some much needed down time. Normally, I would have jumped at the chance to go out to dinner and have something delicious, served to me with a glass of good wine. However, I just really wanted to stay in and cook and sit in a quiet house to recharge. It was wonderful, the silence was priceless and the food and company was great! 

I threw these together with what I had on hand. I had a frozen baguette in the freezer which I thought would be great to make some crostini. I roasted bell peppers earlier in the month and wanted to use them as well. My mom gave me a half dozen Meyer Lemons from her tree the day before and I wanted to include them somehow. I had a small container of crumbled goat cheese in the fridge and of course I had honey on hand. The only ingredient I didn't have was mint. I looked through my fridge and contemplated using basil or thyme since I had those on hand. But, I knew I wanted to have mint paired with the lemon and honey in this appetizer. I don't use mint much in my cooking so I had to run out and pick some up. I had all the ingredients I wanted and here's how I put it all together...Hope you enjoy them.


Crostini with Roasted Peppers, Goat Cheese, Lemon, Honey and Mint

• 1 french baguette, sliced
• crumbled goat cheese
• 2 roasted peppers
• zest of whole Meyer lemon
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp mint, finely chopped
• sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Zest whole Meyer lemon and set aside.

Infuse the oil
Pour olive oil in a small bowl and add about half the Meyer Lemon zest. Let the zest infuse the olive oil. (You can do this a day ahead to really infuse the oil but it is not required, next time I make these I'll infuse the oil overnight to really punch up the lemon flavor)

Marinate the peppers
Slice roasted peppers into 1/4 inch strips and place in another small bowl. (I used a mix of orange, red and yellow peppers) Add remaining lemon zest and finely chopped mint to the peppers. Add about 2 Tbsp of honey and sprinkle with sea salt. Mix and set aside.

Toast baguettes
Arrange baguettes on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and brush each side of baguette slices with the Meyer lemon infused olive oil. Put in oven and bake for about 10 minutes. Then turn slices over and cook an additional 10 minutes until toasted. Remove and let cool.

Assembly
Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp crumbled goat cheese on each crostini and then top with two strips of the marinated peppers. Spoon remaining marinade from the bowl onto each crostini and make sure each one has some of the mint. Then drizzle additional honey on the top of each crostini.  Enjoy!

I served these super yummy Crostini with some Spicy Fried Chickpeas and crackers with Red Pepper Jelly, all paired with a very festive Valentine-y sparkling wine called Je T'aime.   "Cheers to Love and Life!"