Roasted Grape Crostini with Lemon Ricotta and Honey

This Roasted Grape Crostini is an easy, elegant appetizer that’s perfect for the fall. Oven-roasted grapes, infused with thyme and rosemary, complement zesty lemon ricotta and sweet honey. This crostini is perfect when paired with wine.

Happy Sunday! How was your weekend? Marvelous, I hope. Mine was wonderful. We went apple and pumpkin picking, did a local hard apple cider tasting, watched movies, and painted my office.

And I made these amazing roasted grape crostini, which may have possibly been my favorite part of the weekend.

Friday night was spent eating these crostini, paired with Wente Chardonnay, and it was perfect.

I’ve partnered up with Wente to share my #LoveOfTheJourney and my love of their wines. For anyone that knows me personally (or follows me on Instagram), it’s certainly not a surprise that I love wine. I’m a very big fan of Wente’s amazing wines, especially their single-vineyard Riva Ranch Pinot Noir and Riva Ranch Chardonnay. The buttery, smooth Chardonnay paired perfectly with these sweet, savory roasted grape crostini.

I was completely enthralled by the Wente Facebook video of 5th generation winemaker Karl Wente explaining his two biggest passions in life: wine and music. From American Idol to the wine-making process, Karl explained his #LoveOfTheJourney and inspired me to share mine.

Undoubtedly, my biggest passion in life is cooking. I have other creative passions, too. Writing, poetry, acting, photography, and basically anything that I can do with my hands. But everything that I am passionate about in life stems back to my foundation, my ultimate passion, the blood in my veins: food.

This has been this way for as long as I can remember. My journey started at a very young age, growing up in an Italian home and being heavily influenced by cooking, the art of quality ingredients, and the prominence of the dinner table. Breaking fresh bread, passing a family-style salad full of seasonal ingredients, and watching the love, patience, and time that went behind homemade marinara and hand-formed meatballs. Laughter, quick tempers, hot burners, chiming silverware, and clinking glass. It all made sense to me.

It’s why I left college to enroll in culinary school in New York City ten years ago today. And I’m still on this journey.

I’ve worked at Michelin-starred restaurants, larger-than-life hotels, and small bakeries. I’ve loved every single moment. The dance that chefs do when they’re working behind the ‘line.’ The Zen-like nature of prepping and chopping dozens of pounds of fresh fruit, vegetables, herbs, and nuts. The smell of baking bread. The first taste of a seasonal fruit hand pie, warm and bubbling from the oven, the aromas that arise from breaking apart the flaky, buttery dough.

I could possibly go on for hours about cooking and my love and respect of food. This roasted grape crostini reminds me of that. I hosted my very first holiday, as an adult, four years ago at 26. I was living in an apartment in Jersey City, and had my grandmother, uncle, cousin, my cousin’s boyfriend, my best friend, and her husband for Christmas Eve. It was small, but it was perfect. We had wine, St. Germain-topped Prosecco, and far too much food. I made baked ziti, shrimp cocktail, stuffed mushrooms, butternut squash and arugula salad, and these crostini. It was a perfect night, filled with food, family, friends, and new holiday memories and traditions. Food has a way of doing that, doesn’t it? Bringing people together.

Roasting the grapes concentrates their sweetness and allows its juice to reduce into a silky, sticky, divine syrup. Balancing sweet and savory, I love to add plenty of fresh thyme, rosemary, olive oil, flaky sea salt, and freshly ground pepper to the mix. A high-quality baguette is an absolute must, and the lemon zest in the ricotta gives this dish an unexpected, bright touch. Honey and thyme are a match made in heaven, so, naturally, they crown the crostini for a beautiful finish.

This appetizer is easy and quite show-stopping, in my opinion. Pure in its simplicity and taste, yet completely stunning. Serve it for a holiday, a weekend, or a Wednesday night, all the same. Pair it with Wente Chardonnay, and thank me later.

Here are some things you may need or want for this recipe:

Stemless Wine Glass Set by Royal  //  Nature Nate’s 100% Pure, Raw and Unfiltered Honey  //  Kilner Honey Pot With Dipper  //  Sur La Table Blanc Rectangular Platters

This post includes affiliate links but are always products I love + recommend!

Thank you to Wente wines for sponsoring this post. Be sure to check out their Facebook video of pairing your passions. Additionally, I would love to share this code with you for free shipping on their website! I know you’ll love their wines as much as I do. Use the code “JRNYSHIP1” to receive free shipping on your order. I hope you’ve enjoyed these Roasted Grape Crostinis. Cheers!

Roasted Grape Crostini with Lemon Ricotta and Honey

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Tiffany La Forge
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: About 40 crostini 1x
• Category: appetizer

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Description

This Roasted Grape Crostini is the perfect easy, elegant appetizer. Toasty crostini are layered with lemon ricotta, oven-roasted grapes, fresh herbs, and floral honey.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the Ricotta:

• 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 lemon, zested
• sea salt and pepper, to taste

For the Grapes:

• 1 1/2 pounds seedless grapes*
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• Few sprigs each of fresh rosemary and thyme
• Sea salt and pepper, to taste

To Assemble:

• One whole grain French baguette
• Sea salt
• Fresh thyme
• Honey

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the grapes with the olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and a few sprigs each of fresh rosemary and thyme. Spread on a baking sheet in an even layer. Bake until the skins begin to pop and the grapes brown slightly and release juices, about 30-35 minutes.
2. Mix the ricotta with the lemon zest and sea salt and pepper to taste.
3. Slice the baguette on an angle into 1/4″ – 1/2″ slices. Brush both sides with olive oil and bake until toasted and slightly golden, about 10-12 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through.
4. Spread the lemon ricotta on each crostini. Top with the warm roasted grapes (discard thyme and rosemary sprigs). Top the grapes with fresh thyme, flaky sea salt, and a drizzle of honey. Enjoy!

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Notes

*You can slice half of the grapes in half lengthwise before roasting.