Recipe: Mixed Grilled Vegetable Crostini

Mixed Grilled Vegetable Crostini
Recipe courtesy of Gourmet Magazine

Difficulty: Easy
Yield: 6 servings

2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large loaf country-style or sourdough bread
1 medium zucchini
1 beefsteak tomato
1 medium eggplant
3 tablespoons chopped mixed fresh herbs (such as basil and thyme)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cracked black pepper to taste
1/4 cup shaved* Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the garlic cloves and the oil in a saucepan and heat gently 1 or 2 minutes to flavor the oil. Be careful not to burn the garlic or it will turn acrid and bitter. Discard the garlic.

Cut the bread into 1/2-inch-thick slices, brush with the garlic oil and toast in the oven 10 to 12 minutes or until gold, turning the slices halfway through the cooking time. Set the bread aside, uncovered, so that it will remain crisp while you prepare the vegetables.

Slice the vegetables lengthwise in 1/2-inch-thick slices. Brush them with the remaining oil and grill or broil on both sides until lightly charred but still firm. (Some vegetables will need to come off the grill sooner than others.)

Cool the vegetables for several minutes before roughly chopping and tossing them in a bowl with the herbs, vinegar and salt and pepper.

Serve on the garlic crostini with some cracked black pepper and the shaved Parmesan cheese.

*Sliced very thin with a vegetable slicer or paring knife.