Creamy cheese, spicy Calabrian chili butter, and a burst from juicy, garlicky cherry tomatoes makes this my new favorite appetizer. Feel free to swap out the buffalo mozzarella with goat cheese, feta, or ricotta - any of those would work well.
6slicessourdough baguettethat have been cut on the diagonal into half inch slices
1tablespoonextra virgin olive oil
1tablespoonbutter
1teaspooncrushed Calabrian hot chili peppersI used TUTTOCALABRIA brand for this last batch
1clovegarlicmince half and leave the other half whole
4ozof room temperature buffalo mozzarella sliced thinlyI used about half of a ball of Buf Creamery Mozzarella Di Bufala Ovaline
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4cupRoasted Cherry Tomatoes from this siteat room temperature
2tablespoonstorn basil leaves
Instructions
Melt the butter in the microwave, and add 1/2 the garlic clove, minced, reserving the other half for later, the crushed Calabrian chili peppers, and a little sprinkling of salt and pepper to taste. Mix and set aside.
Heat your oven up on broil.
Place the bread slices on a sheet pan. Brush one side of the bread slices with olive oil and toast them under the broiler until nicely tanned and maybe a little bit charred on the ends. Remove the pan from the oven and turn the slices over. Brush about half of the chili garlic butter over the top of the other side, and broil the toasts until they are tanned and maybe a little bit charred. Remove from the oven, and rub the olive oil side of all the toasts with the remaining half clove of garlic. Save the rest of that garlic for another time.
Top the toasts with the cheese, and add a wee bit more salt and pepper, then top each toast with about 2 tablespoons of the roasted tomato mixture. Sprinkle the top with torn basil leaves, and drizzle with the rest of the chili garlic butter.