I love a great party food. Whether I’m hosting a crowd, serving up a finger food-style starter at a dinner party or just making something a little different for a casual meal on the couch, I do love a nibble. Something that can easily be eaten with your hands or carried around – something that can give you so much flavour with one little bite. There’s something completely casual yet totally fancy about this kind of food. This particular recipe started out as something else, inspired by some pub grub I had recently and sort of evolved into this finished product. It’s addictive if I do say so myself and I can’t wait to serve this at a party this summer!
If you decide to make this dish for a party, it’s worth pointing out that you can easily multiply the recipe. This quantity makes 12 crostini, but it wouldn’t be difficult to make 24 or even 48 by simply multiplying the recipe.
I’m not the biggest fan of honey on its own, but cooking with it is a game changer. The sticky sweetness pairs perfectly with the slightly sharp, crumbly, salty cheese and the kicky chorizo flavours. The whole dish finishes off beautifully with the earthy freshness of thyme leaves sprinkled across the top. It just works wonderfully and it’s so pretty to look at too!
When making this dish, try for slightly thick baguette slices so they stand up to all the lovely flavours you’re plopping on top. You might find it easier to use pre-diced chorizo or the crumb version that’s available in grocery stores and both will work, but do avoid the charcuterie slices as they’re not going to give you the same effect. It’s cooking chorizo we want here. As far as honey goes, you can use whatever you like as long as it’s runny. I used the normal, cheap squeazy stuff you find in the grocery store.
Serve this up however you like. I love it in a large dish or on a platter of some sort, but these pieces would also be beautiful on a large grazing board with other bits scattered in between. As a starter I’d simply put one or to two of these slices onto a small plate. If I was really trying hard, I might lay it on top of a bed of rocket or garnish it with some extra stalks of thyme. I love the colour of the dribbly mess when I make these – it’s rustic! But if you prefer a tidier presentation you could put these together one a plate or board and then move them onto a clean platter. It’s completely up to you. Let’s get started!
Ingredients
- About 100g cooking chorizo (6 mini sausages), roughly chopped
- 12 thick slices of baguette
- Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
- 45g manchego cheese, crumbled
- Slosh of dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Leaves from 2 sprigs of thyme, plus more for serving
Method
- Toast the baguette slices in the toaster and lay them out on your prep space or serving platter.
- Once they’re all toasted and layed out, drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the whole lot (it’s ok if it gets between them) and make sure you hit every piece of bread. Using your hands, push them around the plate in the olive oil that spilled down the sides to make sure every piece is coated a little bit on each side. You don’t want to drench them, but feel free to mop the mess with your pieces of baguette as much as you can.
- Gently position the crumbled Manchego on top of each piece of toast, dividing it somewhat evenly between each crostini. It’s fiddly business, but I find a little patience goes a long way.
- Once your bread is prepared, you can get busy with the chorizo. Tip your chopped chorizo into a dry frying pan over medium-high heat. It will start to release an orange oil as it renders and fry in its own flavourful fat. Let this sizzle away, stirring regularly until it starts to crisp up a little and it’s colouring the bottom of your pan.
- Pour in a slosh of white wine, just enough to deglaze the pan. Scrape any bits off the bottom of the pan with your wooden spoon and let this bubble away until it’s reduced into a thick syrup consistency.
- Once the wine has reduced, pour in the 2 tablespoons of honey and add the Thyme leaves. Stir to combine and continue cooking and stirring for 2 to 3 minutes, but take care not to burn the honey. If the heat is too high, you can reduce it at this point – better safe than sorry.
- Now the chorizo is ready to serve in all its syrupy glory. Using a small spoon, spoon a few pieces of chorizo onto each crostini, however they will fit. Again, it’s a little fiddly, but it’s worth it. If you’re using your fingers at all (I do!) just be careful as it will be piping hot. Push and press and do whatever you need to so that all of the chorizo is used, divided as equally as possible between the 12 pieces of bread, sitting colourfully on top of the cheese.
- To finish, use a spoon to drizzle the sticky pan syrup across the top of each crostini. If it took you a while to plate the chorizo, you might want to heat the pan juices up first a little before doing this step so it drizzles more easily. Finish by sprinkling a few thyme leaves from a height across the whole lot.
- The crostini are delicious hot, but they also taste pretty great at room temperature too, so they’re perfect for a party, picnic, pot luck or grazing table.
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