The perfect party appetizers or fall dinner, these honey chipotle-roasted parsnip and carrot crostini with whipped ricotta and pesto are full of rich, seasonal flavors with the perfect amount of creamy indulgence.
Did you know that we currently live in a world in which people willingly pay four dollars for toast?
TOAST. Like, bread and butter. Sometimes a drizzle of cinnamon sugar if we’re feeling like wild women.
It’s outrageous.
And I need to have it.
I mean, it must be better than sex, right? I can’t think of any other reasonable explanation.
This got me thinking that if someone could charge four dollars for a schmear on a slice of carbs (okay, REALLY GOOD carbs, but still), I could totally charge eight dollars for this whipped ricotta spicy sweet roasted parsnip, tomato, and pesto mess. Easy.
The whipped ricotta is a fairly close approximation of the nectar of the gods, while the roasted roots are pretty much a fall flavor explosion. The pesto is a dose of brightness and a breath of fresh air. All selling points.
Feel free to make them as extra large toasts for dinner or small half toasts for appetizers.
And save that eight dollars for a rainy day.
- 7 medium carrots, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
- 1 lb parsnips, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp adobo sauce
- 1 tbsp honey
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- 16 oz ricotta
- ¼ cup pesto
- 1 loaf ciabatta bread, sliced
- Heat oven to 450F.
- In a large bowl, toss together the carrots, parsnips, tomatoes, olive oil, adobo sauce, honey, and salt, to taste. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast for 20-25 minutes, or until the root veggies are tender.
- Meanwhile, put the ricotta in the bowl of a food processor and process until light and creamy. Season to taste with salt and black pepper and process again.
- Spread a layer of ricotta on each of the bread slices (depending on their size, 1-2 large slices per person for dinner, 1-2 half slices per person for appetizers). Top with the roasted veggies and a few dollops of pesto.
For more crostini inspiration, check out these:
Caramelized Onion, Spinach, Roasted Red Pepper and Ricotta Salata Crostini
Zucchini and Goat Cheese Breakfast Crostini
Summer Squash Tartines with Ricotta, Rosemary, and Lemon
From Around the Web:
Parmesan Brussels Sprouts Crostini from How Sweet Eats
Brie and Mango Pepper Jelly Crostini from For the Love of Cooking
Smoky Lemony Chickpea Crostini from The Yellow House
Melted Leeks and Ricotta Tartine from Not Without Salt
Butternut Squash, Arugula, and Roasted Garlic Goat Cheese Crostini from Blogging Over Thyme
Forget toast – I want these crostinis for breakfast. Or at least for lunch, dinner, and any time I feel like a snack today. They’re gorgeous!
Don’t you just love the colour on these crostinis?
Fresh and fabulous! Mmm….so good.
I am often good with fast for breakfast and nothing more, but as always things are better with added flavour!!!
I heard about the ridiculousness of toast on NPR and was so mad about it!!! Especially since I believe I master toast…but who knows!? Anyway, this tops all appetizers…so yummy!
Omg…that ricotta pesto is literally pulling me in. This crostini is INSANE, Joanne! Perfect Monday food in my book. 😀 Pinned!
Joanne, oh my gawd. . I would gladly pay $8 for this amazingness! freaking love the honey chipotle-roasted parsnip with the whipped ricotta and pesto . . damn, you did this crostini right! and by the way, you always have the best links at the bottom of your posts. . I always get lost there reading and pinning them all for like 20 minutes!
Alright. You know how much I love bread. Like looooove. But if it’s better than sex, someone needs to find a better partner. Just sayin’…. BUT this toast with that ricotta topping? Damn girl. Incredible.
This is literally the most delicious looking crostini I have ever seen. Really, really.
Whoa! Love all the flavors here. This is toast worth paying for!
Toast is SO in right now. And I am absolutely loving EVERYTHING about this one. You could charge at least $8 for it!
This looks fantastic, Joanne! There are so many ridiculously delicious things you can do with toast at home so you have more money to spend on important things like fancy cheese 😉
So healthy and delicious! I love crostini! Great for party! Will have to make them soon!
Anything that has the words “chipotle-roasted” in it I’m down for. Looks major yum!
OMG I love this, sweet, spicy AND creamy! What a fabulous combo!
Whipped ricotta! WOW, that would be wonderful anywhere, I think it will be on my next pizza – whipped ricotta and kale pizza, can you imagine that?
🙂
I never really enjoyed carrots until I started roasting them with honey. This looks delicious!!
I’d pay $8 for this! Great flavors and textures in this beautiful piece of toast!
I could easily live on these and I’d $10 for your toast any day of the week. Pinning this and know it will be a fall/winter lunch staple for me 🙂
I think you could “totally charge eight dollars for this whipped ricotta spicy sweet roasted parsnip, tomato, and pesto mess” – heck – I will line up to buy me some of this!
I’m a staunch defender of $4 toast because I assume it’s the best bread of MY LIFE and the best butter of MY LIFE and the best compote/jam/whateverhaveyou of MY LIFE. If it’s not, though, $4 toast and I are gonna have to have words.
How much do you charge for one of those? I’d pay $4 but I also have a big supply of high-fives on hand. (get it? haha oh god.)
what a fun recipe! i love roasted carrots. so good!
Girl, I totally live in that part of the world where people pay $4 for toast. But this toast is nothing short of fantastic! I absolutely LOVE that ricotta/pesto mixture together!
I will pay you eight dollars for these 🙂
I am all over these! I have pesto at home waiting on my right now, and this recipe is calling my name. P.S. Starting selling these and my $8 is ALL yours.
I have a feeling I’ll be making those honey chipotle roasted vegetables a ton this season! Looks delicious!!! Also, I’ll take your 4 dollar toast and top it with 4 dollar bacon. As in, they charge you 4 dollars for 4 pieces of bacon. How is that even legal?!
Definitely $8. And now I want toast.
I made toast for my son this morning. I didn’t charge him anything. Now I’m kicking myself.
Mmmmmm – delish Joanne. Know what you mean about the cost of toast – I had/have a friend who is/was paying a ridiculous amount for avo on toast – like you could have bought the whole loaf of bread and several avos for the same price and was amaze when I told how easy it was to do!
I would pay $8 or more for this toast!! It looks incredible, I love all of these flavors!!
This sounds and looks so good for any time of the day or evening.
I’m sure it tastes like a million bucks.
For sure I’d pay 8 dollars for this, Joanne! I’m having a bit of a love affair with parsnips at the moment, so these toasts sound so delish!
This crostini looks gorgeous! I love the colors of the roasted veggies and the whipped ricotta and pesto??? Totally worth the $8 alone!
Girl, I’d totes pay $8 for this toast, probably double that for a tub of that whipped ricotta….I’m imagining so many possibilities. 😉
I love crostini for dinner! This looks incredible and I can imagine how heavenly that whipped ricotta is!
Definitely $8 easy. This is like winter crostini awesomeness!
Artisanal toast has been a HUGE joke with my knitting friends for the past few months. I think in real life I prefer to eat toast that’s more like this: topped with all kinds of delicious things! Yay!
Heeeeeck, I’d pay more than $4 for a slice of this fancy toast! All them flavors are looking like a mighty slice of heaven to me! You could start a restaurant called “Toasted” where you serve toast and beer. Epic yum, I say. Epic yum.
I’d pay even more for toast at Sqril in Los Angeles (and probably have). Of course looking at your is free. GREG
This looks so good – I love all the flavors you’ve incorporated into the topping. I’d gladly eat this for breakfast instead of $4 toast.
I would be happy to eat this any time of the day, love it!
you had me at whipped ricotta – how yummy!!
I do hate to alarm you but Aussies pay more for toast than that! I do love your version of toast – it has a lot more colour and a good mix of toppings xx
Toast must have the highest sell to cost ratio of any menu item!
This crostini look heavenly! Gorgeous colours, flavours and texture…definitely have to try that whipped ricotta.
Love those colorful carrots! So pretty. I’m assuming another farmers market find?
Parsnip is SUCH an underrated ingredient, I bet it would taste delicious on this crostini 🙂
Never had it with pesto!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Amazing Joanne! I saw this on instagram before I’d even made it out of bed for breakfast and basically DIED. Yum x
All of the words in the title of this post are my favorites. SO MUCH YUM.
I do love a crostini and the toppings on this sound totally epic.
Love the spicy / sweet / creamy / crunchy thing you’ve got going on here, Joanne. Yum!
That’s crazy! You could basically buy the whole loaf AND the butter for four dollars! Tut tut.
Well this look delicious! I’m a huge pesto fan, and with roasted veggies it sounds amazing!!
{Teffy’s Perks} X
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