Summer Peach Caprese Bruschetta on Crostini
Adding ripe, juicy peaches to a classic heirloom tomato caprese bruschetta makes the perfect crostini appetizer for summer! Summer heaven on a slice of bread!
If there’s one food I love in summer, it’s nice, juicy heirloom tomatoes.
If there’s another food I love in summer, it’s stone fruits: peaches, nectarines, and the like.
But did you know they actually go really well together? Heirloom tomatoes like Cherokee Purples (my favorite) are much sweeter and juicier than your average store-bought tomato – almost like a peach, but with a bit more acidity. So they’re the perfect partners!
In this delightful summer bruschetta crostini, I’ve taken a classic caprese combination — tomato, mozzarella, and basil — and added juicy summer peaches to the mix. It’s summer heaven on a slice of bread!
Seriously, I can’t get over how fresh and juicy this peach caprese bruchetta on crostini is. It’s a light, refreshing appetizer that has just a hint of surprise and a lot of flavor.
How to Peel Your Peaches
When eating this peach caprese bruschetta crostini, you don’t want fuzzy peach skin to get in the way of a mouthful of juicy perfection.
Fortunately, it’s very easy to peel a peach by blanching. You can simply cut a little x on the end of your peach opposite the stem, and plop in a pot of boiling water for 10-30 seconds. Then, plunge the peach into ice water so it stops the cooking.
After that, it’s super easy to just peel off the skin in a couple large pieces. This is a great trick to keep in mind if you’re making a peach pie or something too!
I cut these into very thin wedges for the crostini. If your peach is perfectly ripe, it’s very easy to cut off one wedge at a time and pop right off the pit with the knife!
Assembling Peach Caprese Bruschetta on Crostini Slices
To start, toast your crostini. I like to slice a baguette or other long French or Italian loaf into 1/3- to 1/2-inch slices. Then, brush with a good olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.
You can either toast in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 7-10 minutes until the top is a little crispy to the touch, or put the slices under the broiler for 2-4 minutes until the edges are golden brown.
Then, top each piece with a thin wedge of peach and a thin wedge of tomato, arranged in a yin-yang pattern.
For the cheese, I got those fresh mini balls of buffalo mozzarella that melt in your mouth. Each peach caprese bruschetta piece got one mozzarella ball, cut in half and arranged on top.
To finish them off, sprinkle on some chiffonade-cut fresh basil and drizzle with just a bit of balsamic vinegar — either a nice thick, syrupy one or a balsamic reduction will work beautifully.
(To chiffonade-cut basil, stack the leaves, tightly roll them up, and then cut into thin slivers)
The result is a bite-sized peach caprese salad on a crostini slice. They’re the perfect peach appetizers for summer!
Menu suggestions
Try serving these peach caprese bruschetta bites as an appetizer for these gourmet turkey burgers with hollandaise sauce, or have them alongside a cheese and charcuterie board.
For more delicious crostini ideas, check out these recipes:
- Fig and olive tapenade crostini with walnuts
- Crostini with brie and fresh blackberries
- Ricotta crostini with blueberries, walnuts, thyme, and honey
- Blue cheese and steak crostini with blueberry and caramelized red onion jam
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Summer Peach and Heirloom Tomato Caprese Bruschetta on Crostini
Ingredients
For the crostini
- 1 baguette or long Italian or French loaf
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- kosher salt
For assembling
- 1 large ripe heirloom tomato or 2 medium
- 1 ripe peach
- 24 mini fresh buffalo mozzarella balls
- Several sprigs fresh basil
- 2 tbsp thick balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice bread into 1/3-1/2-inch slices and arrange on a sheet pan. Brush slices with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until crispy on top. Set aside crostini. Note: Crostini may not brown, and that's okay! Don't keep baking it until it's brown, or it will end up far too crunchy. Alternately, you can put it under the broiler for a 2-4 minutes instead of baking at 375 to get more browning on top, if that's important to you!
- Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Cut a small x into the end of the peach opposite the stem end. Boil for 10-30 seconds, then plunge into a bowl of ice water. This will stop the cooking and loosen the skin. Peel the skin off the peach.
- Cut the peach and tomato into thin wedges (about 1/3 inch) and halve the mozzarella balls. Arrange one peach and one tomato slice on each piece of crostini in a yin-yang pattern. Then top each with two mozzarella halves.
- Stack the fresh basil leaves, tightly roll up, and thinly slice for a chiffonade cut. Sprinkle basil on top of the crostini; then drizzle each with just a little balsamic reduction.
- Enjoy as a fresh summer appetizer!