ricotta toasts, three ways.

it allllllll started when this piece o' bread convinced me it was a donut.

this rustic campagnolo bread (the brown one below) seriously takes on donut-like properties when toasted and buttered.  the key here is butter.  it was the wildest thing.  i honestly felt like i was eating a donut, on two separate occasions.

i put these cherry preserves (thanks greg & rebecca!) on this buttered slice of 

grand central bakery's campagnolo

 toast, aaaaaand it was so mega delicious and mysteriously donut-like.  later... i made a regular ol grilled cheese sandwich with the same bread...and it tasted like a donut, too!  like whaaaaaa!? 

i began researching this magical bread straight away.  all i know is that its made with honey and yellow polenta, so maybe thats where it gets its sweeter characteristics.

howeverrrrr, when not buttered, the campagnolo bread does not take on donut-like properties.   its very earthy and more like a rye when plain...

rye bread and donuts do not go hand in hand for me...

its all so puzzling.

sooo, then i went on a toast making spree!

here's how it all went down.

grand central baking company campagnolo

on the left, a plump baby loaf of pugliese on the right.

the pugliese is most delightful and seems like a middle of the road bread, somewhere between the likes of sourdough and white as far as texture and flavor.

sometime a few years ago, i was seriously pondering how badly i just wanted there to be a place where i could get a good piece o toast in the morning with a fun topping......

fast forward to 2015, and its alllllllllll about the damn toasts with fun toppings.

uggghhh, why didn't i execute?!? 

nobody wants to shut up about avocado toasts or ricotta toasts right now.  i'm personally very into these types of toast because they are scrumptious.  so i won't shut up about it either!

so anyway.  here you have ricotta toasts.  in three different variations.

campagnolo toasted well, buttered (!!!), ricotta, cherry preserves, topped with fine espresso powder

the espresso powder was such a lovely addition!  it just boosted up the flavor of the cherry.

[ps. i don't even usually like cherry flavored things at all... so apparently i dont like the classics, according to

my last post about grape flavors

.  but i DO like these cherry preserves that peter's friends made and gave to us]

i don't know what it was, y'all.  but it really tasted like some sort of fruity donut!!!

i don't get it either.  just believe me.  it was a toasty miracle.

now here's "the classic" in the trendy toast trends.

pugliese with ricotta cheese, avocado, fried egg, black pepper, & red chili flakes

last, but not least, is the ricotta + nutella and raspberries.

pugliese with ricotta cheese, nutella, & raspberries

[i would switch it up with whatever fruit you see fit, like nanners.]

toast toast toast toast toast toast everyboddddyyyy.

all three toasts are delicious and flavorful in their own special ways.

mmmmmm! good mooooorrrrrning, toast lovvahhhs.

qp

roasted beet, spinach, & goat cheese toasts with balsamic glaze.

colour on toast!

these toasts are extreeeemely flavorful, hearty, and tasty.  i made a higher-maintenance version of it last summer with a layer of sauteed mushrooms and yellow onion below the beet layer.  even though that was pretty damn good too, it was a lot of things piled onto one piece of toast.

so i went a little bit simpler with it this time.

the color of beets is just insane! so pretty!  i'm constantly boggled by all the wild colors and textures and flavors that grow naturally in the ground.  like, whoaaa.

sooo,

can you paint with all the colors of the wind

?

toasts with goat cheese!

toasts with goat cheese and spinach!

toasts with goat cheese, spinach, and beets!

toasts with goat cheese, spinach, beets, and pickled red onion!

toasts with goat cheese, spinach, beets, pickled red onion, walnuts, more goat cheese, and balsamic glaaaaaaaaze!

that doesn't quite have as much of a ring to it as that sesame street song about a

frog on a bump on a log in a hole in the bottom of the sea

.

layered toast song in progress.

this one goes out to the last day of summer 2015.  

it was a fun & delicious summer indeed!

Roasted Beet, Spinach, & Goat Cheese Toasts with Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients:

• 1 roasted red beet, cooled
• 1 roasted golden beet, cooled
• small fresh loaf of bread // seedy or wheaty! 
• fresh spinach leaves
• goat cheese
• pickled red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• balsamic glaze

Instructions-

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Cut off any stalks or greens from the beets and rinse any dirt off. Wrap the beets separately in foil, place in a baking pan, and into the oven.  Roast them for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until you can feel them become slightly soft.  You can do this step days ahead of time before making these toasts.  The beets are usually cold on the toast anyway, so no need to worry about keeping them hot.

Once the beets have come out of the oven and cooled for about half an hour, slice them into 1/8 inch rounds.  Slice your bread into almost 1 inch wide slices (they've got to be hefty enough to carry a good amount of weight).  Toast the bread.  

Spread goat cheese on well-toasted slices of bread.  Layer on fresh leaves of spinach.  Add a layer of sliced red and golden beets.  Top with a few pickled red onions, chopped walnuts, and extra goat cheese crumbles.  Drizzle with balsamic glaze.

ENJOY!

qp