Olive paste crostini — the Italian aperitivo in five minutes
Serves 4-6 (about 12 crostini) · Prep 10 min · No cook
The best Italian aperitivo is often the one you don't cook. Good toasted bread, a generous olive paste, a thread of oil over the top: you assemble, you set it down, you serve. Five minutes, no pans, nothing to watch — and yet the effect of a trattoria antipasto. The secret isn't a deft hand: it's in the jar. Everything rides on the olive paste.
Our Madre Terra Pasta di Olive Nere is made the way you'd want it — real black olives, little around them, the clear, lightly salty taste of the fruit. Spread on still-warm toasted bread, finished with a drizzle of raw Madre Terra olive oil, it's enough to turn a rushed aperitivo into a trattoria moment. It's the simplest antipasto there is, and one of the most Italian — the one you serve without thinking and everyone goes back to.
Ingredients
- 12 thin slices of good country bread (or a baguette)
- 1 jar of Madre Terra black olive paste (Pasta di Olive Nere)
- Madre Terra extra virgin olive oil, to finish
- 1 garlic clove (optional)
- A few small leaves of basil, parsley or thyme, to garnish
Method
- Toast the bread slices — in the oven, under the grill or in a pan — until golden and crisp.
- While they're still warm, rub them lightly, if you like, with a halved garlic clove. One pass is enough: it's a scent, not a seasoning.
- Spread a good spoonful of Madre Terra black olive paste on each crostino, without smoothing it too much — you want some relief.
- Finish with a drizzle of raw Madre Terra olive oil and a small fresh herb leaf.
- Arrange on a plate and serve at once, while the bread is still crisp.
The crispness, at the last minute: top the crostini just before serving, never ahead. Bread spread too early goes damp and sags — toast it when the guests arrive, spread the olive paste as you set the plate down. The contrast between the warm crisp and the melting olives is the whole pleasure.
More: three things are enough for an Italian aperitivo — a generous olive paste, a good oil, good bread. It all starts with the olive paste: our Madre Terra Pasta di Olive Nere, frank and lightly salty like the fruit, is the one you spread without counting.
Discover the Madre Terra Pasta di Olive NereFrequently asked
Which olive paste should I choose?
One made with real olives and little else around them — that's the whole dish. The olive paste is the ingredient here, not a condiment: if it's good, the crostini are unforgettable. Our Madre Terra Pasta di Olive Nere is dosed for it, clear and lightly salty like the fruit.
Which bread for crostini?
A good country bread or a baguette, thinly sliced and well toasted. The warm crisp makes half the dish — soft bread will never give a real crostino. Rub it with garlic if you like, but with a light hand.
Can I make them ahead?
Toast the bread a little ahead, yes; top it only at the last minute. The olive paste, on the other hand, waits with no trouble — keep the jar cool and bring it to room temperature before serving, the flavour opens up better.
