Don’t you adore dishes that taste as good as they look? Not only do these Warm Apple & Caramelized Onion Crostini with Fontina & Crispy Prosciutto live up to their looks, they make for a perfect appetizer that’s sure to please all your apple-loving friends!
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Crunch Time Apple Growers. As always, all opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make Ciao Chow Bambina possible.
When one is invited to create a recipe using SnapDragon® apples, courtesy of the ever-so-bountiful New York State Apple Country, one doesn’t mosey, one bolts at the chance.
The SnapDragon® apple, known for its ‘monster crunch’ and spicy-sweet flavor, is a new apple developed by Cornell University’s apple breeding program. How cool is that? One of its parent apples, the Honeycrisp, helps make this beauty a perfect bite. A splash of water, a soft towel, a gentle polish, and I promise you’ll be hard pressed to find a sweeter, juicier, crisper, healthier snack.
However, for those snack-times that require more, there’s no denying the delight that caramelized onions, fontina cheese and crispy prosciutto bring when paired with a zippy SnapDragon® and toasted harvest bread to create a gorgeous autumn-inspired crostini.
If you’re a regular visitor to CCB then you know I’m feeling all the feels right now. Warm apples? Caramelized onion? Fontina? Prosciutto? Crostini?
I’m crying.
This is the kind of nosh that works wonderfully as an appetizer while dinner is bubbling away on the stove, but it also works beautifully as an entree…
Trust me – I’ve made toast my main dish for breakfast, lunch and dinner more times than I can count….and this….this apple crostini….well this is fine dining in my world.
There are a number of ways to prepare bread for crostini. You can:
- toast it (in a wide-slotted toaster)
- broil it
- grill it
Today I’m using the broiler method. It toasts up quickly and leaves gorgeous singe marks around the edge which play nicely with our flavors.
The apples and onions can be sautéed together in one pan while the prosciutto gets crisped up in another. Once the bread is toasted, you’ll distribute the apple mixture evenly on the slices. Top the apples and onions with fontina, then place under the broiler one more time for a quick melt. Once the cheese is melted, remove from the oven, top with crispy prosciutto bits then get ready…
…to cry…
…’cause it’s that good.
Wondering where you can find SnapDragons®? You should start seeing these delicious apples at farmers’ markets throughout New York State within the next few weeks, and in stores nationwide by mid-October! Stay tuned for additional updates on the new SnapDragon® website.
Buon Appetito!
Print
Warm Apple & Caramelized Onion Crostini with Fontina & Crispy Prosciutto
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Appetizer
Description
Don’t you adore dishes that taste as good as they look? Not only do these Warm Apple & Caramelized Onion Crostini with Fontina & Crispy Prosciutto live up to their looks, they make for a perfect appetizer that’s sure to please all your apple-loving friends!
Ingredients
- Caramelized Onions
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 3 large yellow onions, chopped
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- Apples
- 3 SnapDragon apples, cored and diced (do not peel)
- 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
- 1/8 cup brown sugar
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 8 slices of prosciutto, crispy
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 8 – 12 oz. fontina cheese, shredded
- 8 slices dense harvest bread (I used apple cider & golden raisin bread)
Instructions
- For the onions, place olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium-low until butter melts.
- Add the onions. Let them cook, stirring occasionally, until they are light golden brown.
- Add the salt and sugar and continue to cook and stir until they are soft and golden, about 45 minutes.
- While the onions are doing their thing, prepare the apples. In a medium bowl combine diced apples, cinnamon, brown sugar, sugar and cayenne.
- Add apples to the onions and sauté until apples just begin to soften. Remove from heat and set aside.
- To crisp prosciutto, preheat a skillet over medium heat with 1 Tbsp. olive oil, place slices in pan and cook for about 3 minutes, until crispy.
- Remove from heat, let cool, then break into small bite-sized pieces.
- In the meantime, preheat broiler.
- Place bread on top rack and toast for about a minute then flip and toast for another minute.
- Remove crostini from the oven and place slices on a sheet pan.
- Top crostini with a small amount of shredded fontina, then the apple mixture, and more fontina.
- Place back under broiler until cheese melts, about a minute.
- Remove from oven and top with crispy prosciutto bits.
- Serve warm.
Reader Interactions
Comments
Trackbacks
-
[…] It’s made with SnapDragon® apples, which are not only excellent eating apples but they’re great for recipes, too (like this relish, and this salad, and these crostini…) […]
I am a fan of apples in my salads during this time of the year..But sautéing it with onions never came to my mind! This is such a fresh idea for me! I love it! can’t wait to try this! Amazing flavors!
I love apples in my salads! I hope you try it because I think you’ll love it! 🙂
How fun to try a brand new type of apple! I love honey crisp apples so I’m certain I’d love this one too! This crostini looks so lovely. Can’t wait to give it a try.
This is an apple’s apple! Thanks, Kathy!
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a snapdragon apple!! I do love my honeycrisp though. I’m also a huge lover of crispy prosciutto, and these crostini look like the perfect fall appetizer for my next gathering!
If you find them…grab them! They’re sooo good! 🙂
I’ve never thought of adding sautéed apples on a crostini but I bet it’s delicious, Annie. I love crostini – such an easy lunch or snack and your combo looks heavenly. I’m going to have to be on the lookout for these apples – honey crisps are easy to find right now so maybe these are at the store now too?
It is so gooood, Geraldine! I think you’ll like it! 🙂
You have created the ultimate fall crostini Annie! I have spoken:) Such an enticing combination of flavors and this new variety of apples sounds perfect!
Yesss! Why thank you! 🙂 🙂
Hello apple season! These are phenomenal, I love the sweet and savory mixture and that cheese… You should make a crostini cookbook/ebook, you know how to make crostini special 😉 . Pinned. Take care.
Awh! You are so sweet…that would be a fun book to write!! And I agree about the cheese – I’d put fontina on my sneaker and love it!! 🙂 Thanks, friend!
Love everything about this! From the beautiful apples, to the onions, to the cheese and prosciutto! Such great flavours together and so perfect for Fall eating 🙂
Makes for a great lunch or appetizer! Thanks, Jennifer!
Always on the look out for new varieties of apples. These sound great as does this recipe! Fall is sure here!
You will not be disappointed! Isn’t fall grand?!!
That new variety of apple sounds amazing – Keith and I eat our weight in apples in the fall! So I’ll have to keep my eye out for them.
These crostini have everything, Annie! Sweet, savory, cheesy GOODNESS!
It’s exactly what you expect a cold crisp apple to taste like! 🙂
OH MY GOODNESS, this is an amazing recipe, I am eating these pictures with my eyes right now. I love how warm and comforting this looks. Absolutely heavenly!!!
Thank you, Ashika! I just love this time of year! 🙂
Wao Annie!! I’m so craving this crostini now, I can imagine all those flavors, so, so good! I agree when others said that You’ve outdone yourself! Have a great weekend, my friend!
Thank you, Gaila! This is a fun one!! xo
So I went to the store this morning and just so happened to pick up some apples and prosciutto!! I didn’t have any big plans for them until now!! Clearly this crostini and me are kismet!! I am just loving the combination of flavors going on here Annie!! This is fall perfection and I can’t wait to stuff my face with these!! Pinned! XOXO
Woohoooo! Kismet! That’s what it’s all about! Thanks, my friend! XOXO
I’m crying too, and craving this crostini, and wondering if I have any apples left in the kitchen so I can have this for lunch today :). Holy cow, Annie! You’ve outdone yourself! Have a great weekend, my friend!
Thank you, my friend! I hope you can find a couple apples!! 😉
Wow, Annie, what colors and flavors you put in this post! It is warm and fuzzy and looks so so good! Those apples are just gorgeous, and if they are relatives to the honey crisp, I already love them! Pinned your crostini recipe, I could make some with and without prosciutto (but I know, the ones with crispy prosciutto will be magnificent!).
Warm and fuzzy is what autumn cooking is all about! You will love this apple (and crostini), Nicoletta! Thanks, my friend!
All my favorite bloggers are sharing apple recipes today Annie! This crostini sounds absolutely AMAZING! I love each and every ingredient! I cannot wait to get these on my fall cocktail party menu!! Woohoo! Thanks for sharing, and Happy Weekend!
It’s a wonderful time of year in the kitchen! Woohooo! Enjoy, my friend!! 🙂
Such a gorgeous crostini! The name pretty much says it all…I just want to dig in!
Thank you, Gayle! Enjoy!!
Oh my goodness – I am crying 😉 Your photos are gorgeous, especially loving the one with the apples/rainboots! And these app? OMG! No words! I can taste (and smell) it now and wish that I had 100 in front of me. Pinning this one and definitely trying soon. You know how much I love my crostini too and I’ve never had anything quite like this. Perfection. Cheers to a lovely weekend, my friend! XOXO
I just knew you wouldn’t let me cry alone! 😉 I know you love crostini as much as I do and I’m feeling pretty confident you’re going to love this one! Thanks, my friend!! XOXO
My mouth is watering!! That sound so doggone good I’d have it for breakfast right now. YUM!! I love apples so I’m on the lookout for great tasting apples. I’ve starred SnapDragon apples on my list. Have a wonderful day. Hugs!!
SnapDragons are incredible! They’re great for snacking and for cooking with! Thanks, dear!
Glad you enjoy them Annie!
I sure do! Thank you so much! 🙂
These crostini look phenomenal, Annie! I’ve made apple bruschettas, but I served it cold (And it didn’t look as good as this one either). Warm crostini absolutely make sense now. Also, the combination of apples, caramelized apples, cheese, and prosciutto is so delightful and earthy – perfect for fall. I should probably be making something similar this weekend. Very well done!
I hope you give it a try, Ben! I think you’ll really love it! So fall! Thanks for stopping by with a kind word!
🙂