Crostini

Today “crostini” are considered as appetizers, but they have an old tradition. Looking at Renaissance paintings, feasts included lots of different kinds of food served without plates, so they used to pick food with hands or put it on a slice of bread. Bread used to soak all the sauce, becoming really tasty. Then they started to toast the bread and put some hot stock on it. We are not putting stock on bread anymore because the bread would become too soft.

In Tuscany we have different kinds of “Crostini”: the classic ones are prepared using chicken entrails including crests, other ones with chicken liver, or spleen. They all have in common the use of capers and anchovy and the way to prepare them.

Here is my recipe I got from an old aunt who lived in Valdarno area, between Arezzo and Florence.

                                              

ISOLINA’S CROSTINI

Ingredients for 6 people:

350 gr chicken liver

1 small onion

1 carrot

1 celery

1 spoon of capers

3 anchovys

White wine

Bit stock

2 spoons of meat ragù

bread

olive oil

salt and pepper

Mince the onion, carrot, celery and put them in a saucepan with 4 spoons of olive oil and let them brown. Add liver, when it dries pour the wine. Cook for half an hour then chop everything, put them back in the pan, add capers and anchovys and let it cook. If it dries add stock. 5 minutes before serving add meat ragù and mix. Spread on toasted bread.

In Siena area instead of meat ragù they use liver with spleen. It is up to you deciding which is the best, keep in mind that the result will be completely different.