Starting from the recipe for crostini with prosciutto, hard-boiled egg, and ricotta cream, I will tell you about a journey: four wonderful days discovering Puglia, with its flavors, colors, and typical dishes! To make this recipe I used Altamura bread purchased last Tuesday at one of the most famous and well-known bakeries: the Antico Forno Santa Caterina since 1306. I recommend you stop by for a snack or lunch if you visit Altamura; you’ll find it just before the Cathedral. Not to be missed are the Puglian taralli accompanied by an aged primo sale cheese purchased in Trani, Friday morning, at the Caseificio Raspada, which I recommend you note down because they have delicious homemade mozzarella! In short, a gourmet journey awaits you!
I thought of these crostini with Altamura bread while we were heading home. We were in the car, and I was thinking of new recipes. Of course, I will try the Cialledda pugliese, since we loved it so much and it’s perfect for the summer season. Let’s not forget the Puglian Bombette: we already made them on Saturday for dinner, and I can’t wait to share them with you on the blog. How can I not mention the Taranto fried mussels we enjoyed with smoked honey… what a seafood feast that night! Then the bread meatballs in sauce… in short, many new ideas were born thanks to this trip!
If you’re curious about where to eat, where to sleep, and what to see, write in the comments or send an email to lericettedibea@gmail.com or via chat on social profiles. I will answer all your questions with great pleasure!
Now let’s move on to today’s recipe: the crostini with prosciutto, hard-boiled egg, and ricotta cream! As you might have guessed, it’s an easy, quick, and delicious recipe, just the way we like it: a tasty and fragrant dish, perfect for the nice weather, to serve either hot or cold! Like many other basic preparations, crostini are easy to make. You can vary the ingredients according to your taste or what you already have available in the fridge and pantry. In the final box, I will suggest possible variations, and if you like, let me know your ideas in the comments!
To make this crostino, I used a Parma DOP prosciutto to avoid increasing its saltiness, a fresh ricotta made creamy with a few simple steps after flavoring it with mustard and paprika, hard-boiled eggs, and a few leaves of arugula to complete everything. Uniqueness of flavors and colors for a bread crostino that will win over your entire family or your guests!
Here you will find other recipes I have prepared over the years: from the classic and always delicious crostini with sausage, ricotta, and mushrooms, to the more unusual crostini like ginger and cheese crostini. As an alternative to classic bread crostini, I can offer you the zucchini and wurstel crostini that my nephews love!
I look forward to seeing you every day in the Facebook group and fan page of Le Ricette di Bea with the Recipe of the Day, an unmissable appointment to start the day with a sweet or savory treat! Here below you will find the video recipe to prepare the crostini with prosciutto, hard-boiled eggs, and ricotta and the cocktail with passion fruit and cranberry juice to pair with this appetizer, a non-alcoholic drink perfect for summer! Let’s move on to the recipe!
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Affordable
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 4People
- Cooking methods: Stove, Toaster
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons, Summer
- Energy 448.20 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 39.72 (g) of which sugars 2.58 (g)
- Proteins 28.69 (g)
- Fat 19.16 (g) of which saturated 6.90 (g)of which unsaturated 10.19 (g)
- Fibers 2.70 (g)
- Sodium 1,433.89 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 190 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Crostini with Prosciutto and Hard-Boiled Egg
- 8 slices bread (in my case Altamura bread)
- 6 slices Parma DOP prosciutto
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup ricotta
- 1 mustard
- 1 pinch paprika
- to taste parsley
- A few leaves arugula (to decorate the crostini)
First tip for making this recipe perfectly: if you haven’t already guessed from my introductory story, the bread you are going to use for this preparation must be stale, at least a couple of days old. In my case, it’s Altamura bread purchased last week! If you want to make the preparation even easier, you can, on the day you buy the bread, slice it, not too thick, mind you, leaving it in the paper bag from the bakery. Slicing the bread on the day it’s still fresh is easy and you’ll get nice slices, slicing it when it’s already hardened requires more skill and care.
Tools for Preparing Crostini with Prosciutto
- 1 Small Pot
- 1 Toaster
- 1 Chopping board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Small Bowl
- 1 Spoon
If you don’t have or don’t want to use the toaster, you can turn on the oven to heat the bread, making it perfect as a base for the crostini we are about to prepare!
Steps for Crostini Recipe with Prosciutto, Hard-Boiled Egg, and Ricotta Cream
Let’s start by placing a small pot on the stove with plenty of water, bring almost to a boil, and then add the three eggs. Cooking time for hard-boiled eggs: about 10 minutes. After this time, drain them and cool them in cold water until completely cooled. Then set them aside and continue with the preparation of the crostini with prosciutto and ricotta cream.
Turn on the oven in static mode at 356°F if you choose to toast the bread this way. In this case, you will need to wait until the oven reaches the temperature and then insert a tray or rack with the slices of bread. Alternatively, as I did in the end, turn on the toaster and toast the slices of bread. In this case, you can wait until you have already prepared all the other necessary ingredients to proceed.
Take a small bowl and pour the ricotta inside, add a spoonful of mustard, a sprinkle of paprika, and some parsley. Stir with a spoon to create a nice ricotta cream. Set aside.
Take the eggs now cooled, remove the shell, and cut them into slices not too thin. Now we are finally ready to proceed with making the crostini. Arrange the slices of bread on a tray after toasting them all. Take a spatula or a knife and spread the ricotta cream. Place a slice of prosciutto on the cream, one or two hard-boiled egg slices, and finally a leaf of arugula as decoration.
We are ready to serve the crostini with prosciutto, hard-boiled egg, and ricotta cream! You can serve this appetizer either hot or cold, and don’t forget to accompany the aperitif with other delicacies, like giant green olives, taralli, chips, mini mozzarella or cheese, in short, whatever you love and prefer!
I wish you all bon appétit and remind you that you are welcome here every day on my cooking blog with many easy, quick, and delicious recipes like this one!
Non-alcoholic cocktail to pair with the crostini with prosciutto, hard-boiled egg, and arugula
Quantities for single drink:
Take a shaker and add at least 4-5 ice cubes, add three generous tablespoons of Fabbri 1905 Passion Fruit syrup, one glass per person of cranberry juice, a splash of lemon juice, and shake all together. Pour the drink into a glass, adding a few more ice cubes. The non-alcoholic cocktail is ready!
Perfect for the summer and to keep your driver’s license points intact, considering the road code restrictions of recent years. Easy and quick to prepare, it has the perfect acidity to contrast the sweetness of the eggs, Parma prosciutto, and ricotta cream.
You can dilute the cocktail with sparkling water or, if you want to add a touch of alcohol, prosecco will do just fine. We are ready to enjoy a complete aperitif, easy to make, perfect even if guests arrive unexpectedly, as often happens in summer!
Tips and variations for crostini with prosciutto
As already mentioned, the two tips I have for you are: slice the bread the day you buy it into not too thick slices and let it harden in the bakery’s paper bag. Preheat the oven well, if you choose not to use the toaster, without exceeding 356°F, otherwise the bread will become too hard. Place the tray or rack in the center of the oven, so that there is the optimal temperature for browning.
Recipe variations: you can replace the prosciutto with another salami to your taste, you can choose a spreadable cheese instead of ricotta. Of course, you can also change the type of bread based on your preferences and habits. As the Tuscans say, a bland bread is perfect for this recipe, that is, a bread without salt, since we will then use flavorful and savory ingredients.
