I have a handful of favorite ways to enjoy Manchgo cheese here in my kitchen, but, truth told, my favorite way is the simplest: put a thin slice of Manchgo on a French bread slice with a dollop of fig preserves. That's it. Just three ingredients (bread, cheese and jam). It is marvelous -- sometimes, when I'm hungry and in need of quick, snack, I skip the bread and use Club or Ritz crackers as the crunchy base. Combined with a few other easy-to-find ingredients, these two-three-bite three-ingredient appetizers go from marvelous to over-the-top in a few short moments.
One short list of easy-to-find items & no measuring. Use some or all, as long as there's bread, cheese & preserves.
Listed in the order of assembly:
baguette slices, 1, slightly-less-than-1/2"-thick slice per crostini, lightly-toasted or not toasted, your choice
baby arugula leaves, 3-4 per crostini
apple slices, 1 thin apple slice per crostini, any type of apple will be wonderful
Manchego cheese, 1 thin slice per crostini
prosciutto or Serrano ham, 1 thin whisp per crostini
fig preserves, 1 small dollop per crostini
lightly-toasted walnuts, whole halves or chopped pieces, 1 walnut half or 1 sparse sprinkling per crostini
~Step 1. In the order listed, assemble the crostini: French bread slice, baby arugula leaves, apple slice, Manchego slice, prosciutto whisp, dollop of fig preserves and toasted walnut half or chopped walnuts. Serve ASAP but can be covered and refrigerated 1-2 hours prior to serving at room temperature.
Casual yet elegant & perfect for any occasion:
Manchego, Apple, Prosciutto, Arugula & Fig Crostini: Recipe yields instructions to make as many appetizer as you want to.
Special Equipment List: serrated bread knife, cutting board; chef's knife; small spoon
Cook's Note: It's my opinion that it's impossible for any one person to have one favorite cheese. There are thousands of choices, with unique varieties available in in every region of the world, with new varieties being created as we speak. To name a few, are hard cheeses, soft cheeses, semi-soft cheeses, crumbly cheeses, spoonable cheeses, melting cheeses, grating cheeses and blue-veined cheeses. There are cow's milk cheeses, sheep's milk cheeses, goat cheeses and vegan cheeses. Some cheeses are processed, others are not. Some are aged for a short time, some are aged for a long time. The best one cheese lover can hope for is to sample as many as one can, compile a list of favorites, and learn to enjoy each one appropriately.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)
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