Pear Crostini with Whipped Goat Cheese and Sage

This pear crostini is topped with honey whipped goat cheese, warm sauteed pears, and crispy sage. Serve up this easy appetizer at your next gathering, or make something special to have with dinner during the week!

As a Registered Dietitian, I’m always trying out new and unique ways to serve fruits and vegetables. This pear crostini recipe is a different way to use pears, and it is downright delicious! Oven toasted crostini are topped with super creamy honey whipped goat cheese, pears sauteed with warming spices, and crispy sage. Chef’s kiss!

This healthy appetizer recipe is vegetarian, nut free, and soy free.

What is crostini?

Crostini, in Italian, means “little toasts”. Crostini are an appetizer consisting of small, grilled or toasted bread slices with toppings. Traditional crostini toppings include cheeses, vegetables, herbs, and meats.

A crusty baguette is the best bread to make crostini, but any elongated bread shape will do.

Ingredients in pear crostini

Here is everything you need to make this pear crostini recipe:

• Baguette bread: Don’t worry if your baguette is one or two days old – slightly stale bread is perfect for this recipe.
• Olive oil: either in a spray bottle or with a used with a pastry brush
• Pears: I used Bosc pears, but feel free to use your favorite variety.
• Goat cheese
• Plain Greek yogurt
• Honey
• Lemon Zest
• Fresh sage
• Cinnamon
• Salt

Ingredient substitution suggestions

Try mixing up this crostini recipe with other ingredients! Some swaps that would taste great:

• Use apple instead of pear
• Swap ricotta cheese for goat cheese
• Try rosemary or thyme if you cannot find sage
• Use maple syrup instead of honey in the whipped goat cheese

Kitchen tools needed

To make this recipe, you’ll need a large cutting board, parchment paper or silicone baking mat, and a food processor to make the whipped goat cheese.

How to make pear crostini

Prepare the whipped goat cheese by mixing goat cheese, Greek yogurt, honey, lemon zest, and salt in a food processor. You may need to scrape down the bowl of the food processor a few times.

Thinly slice pears and chop sage. Saute them in a nonstick pan with cinnamon until pears are warm and soft and sage is crispy.

Slice bread into 1/4 inch thick slices and spray or brush with olive oil. Broil in the oven until toasted golden brown and crunchy. You can also toast the bread on a grill or in a toaster oven.

Assemble the crostini. Spread a layer of whipped goat cheese on each toast, then top with pear slices and crispy sage.

Preparation suggestions

Crostini is best served soon after it is assembled to experience the best taste and texture of all the ingredients. If you’d like to prepare this recipe ahead of time, you can make the whipped goat cheese, sauteed pears, and crostini and store each component separately. Store the whipped goat cheese and pears in airtight containers in the fridge, and store the crostini in a silicone bag at room temperature.

Prepare up to 1 day in advance. Warm the crostini in the oven and let the whipped goat cheese softened to room temperature, then assemble and serve.

Pears nutrition benefits

Pears are a nutritious fruit to include in your diet. One medium pear provides:

• 5.5 grams of dietary fiber (20 percent of your daily needs)
• 7.7 mg Vitamin C (9 percent of your daily needs)
• 0.146 mg copper (16 percent of your daily needs)

Pears are a good source of both insoluble and soluble fiber, and provide about 1.5 grams of soluble fiber in one medium pear. Eating 5-10 grams of soluble fiber per day can have favorable effects on blood cholesterol levels.

Pears are rich in several antioxidant compounds, which help keep our cells healthy and fight inflammation.

Let me know if you love this recipe by leaving a comment or star rating below, and check out Instagram and Pinterest for more healthy lifestyle inspiration. Thanks for stopping by!

Print

Save this recipe for later to Pinterest