Tuscan Canapés (Crostini Neri)
4 servings
Ingredients
- 150 gr lean ground beef
- 200 gr beef spleen (run a knife over top of spleen to push the pulp out)
- 200 gr of chicken liver, cleaned and finely minced
- a small clove of garlic
- a handful of chopped parsley (about two tablespoons)
- 30ml or 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 60 ml or ¼ cup red wine
- 15ml or 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
- meat broth or broth made from stock cube, as needed
- a handful of pickled capers, chopped finely
- 1 teaspoon anchovy paste or two anchovies, cleaned and deboned
- a pinch of salt
- about 20 small slices of baguette-style Tuscan bread
Preparation
- Finely chop garlic and parsley with mezzaluna
- Sauté garlic and parsley in olive oil in a pan
- Add ground beef and brown until all the water evaporates, stir constantly so it doesn’t stick to pan or burn
- Add chicken liver and sauté stirring constantly
- After a few minutes, add spleen pulp that was carefully “pressed out”. Stir carefully because it can easily stick to the pan and burn which will make the sauce bitter
- Add red wine and continue to stir until it evaporates
- Stir in tomato sauce. If it is too dense, add some broth (homemade meat broth or from stock cube)
- Chop capers finely and add to pan with anchovy paste or anchovies
- Taste the mixture and add salt as necessary
- Spread mixture on slices of bread and serve.
You can also serve as we do in Montalcino: toast the bread and quickly dip the slices in broth before topping
In Montalcino, ground veal is used as a variation on the original recipe as are the capers and anchovies, even the spleen can be substituted with a small quantity of chicken liver, but the real recipe has always been this one for me.
Crostini Nerialways started off the most important dinners at my house. They were always on the table for Christmas, Easter, or some special family event like when my mom’s twin sister, Maria Amalia, and her family came “from the North”. Whenever my aunt, uncle, and cousins came to Montalcino on holiday, they all became locals again in front of a nice tray of Tuscan crostini. Then it was one question after another asking the latest about people and events in the town or about relatives. It was a table of smiles, knowing looks, and sincere affection. It was a real gathering. Today nothing has changed. Whenever I makeCrostini Neriit means that there’s something to celebrate or that I simply feel the need to feel my loved ones around me.