Roasted Strawberry Bruschetta

This entire week I have posted different types of hors d'oeuvres. My final post in this series is a roasted fruit appetizer. Originally I wanted to use fruit as the base but none of the fruit that lend themselves to baking is available in the market. It is too early in the season. I will post my planned recipe in summer when the ingredients are available but for this week here is my fruit based appetizer.

Strawberries are generally cooked over the stove top. However, they taste really good when they are roasted in an oven. As they are baked strawberries retain their shape. Leave them alone as they cool and they turn juicy and flavorful. The resulting strawberry in its juice goes great with ice cream or as topping on pie. But it also tastes great as a topping for bruschetta. I used my baguette recipe as the base. You can find that here.

I have made savory bruschetta with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella before. This is a very different recipe but the flavors go together just as nicely as the regular bruschetta. Everyone at home loved it.

You will need
1 baguette, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
10 strawberries, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar or 1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup goat cheese
1 tbsp. olive oil

Bake the baguette using this recipe. You could you a store bought baguette. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Slice the strawberries and combine them with either the vinegar or the sugar. Spread them in a single layer on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake for 5-10 minutes. Keep aside to rest.

Brush oil on the baguette slices. Place the slices on a baking sheet and broil for 1-2 minutes on each side. You want them to be crisp and toasty.

Apply a layer of goat cheese to the slices. The rested strawberry should be very juicy by this time. Cut up the strawberries into smaller pieces and combine with the juice in a bowl. Place a few pieces of the strawberry and juice on each of the bread slices.

Enjoy!