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Roasted Cherry Crostini make a great easy summer appetizer with a sweet and slightly tart Roasted Cherry Caper Sauce, creamy goat cheese, and flavor-packed hickory smoked turkey breast all on toasted ciabatta bread.

Today’s recipe is sponsored by Jennie-O, who supplied me with the premium hickory smoked turkey breast. But as usual, all these opinions are my own.

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A sweet and slightly tart Roasted Cherry Caper Sauce, creamy goat cheese, and flavor packed hickory smoked turkey breast on toasted ciabbata bread make an easy summer appetizer. | Sponsored by Jennie-O | www.megiswell.com

Jennie-O

I’m not going to lie. When I agreed to be part of Jennie-O’s Switch Circle, I thought I was going to receive a lot of ground turkey every month.

But I haven’t and I really liked the premium deli turkey meats they sent. They remind me of smoked salmon only it’s turkey.

As soon as I pulled them out of the shipping box I thought, “wow I need to throw a party.” And that idea stuck in my head.

I didn’t actually throw a party. But this Roasted Cherry Crostini with Goat Cheese and Smoked Turkey makes an excellent party appetizer.

Roasted Cherry Crostini

Cherries and goat cheese have been on my mind recently. For example, I recently made this:

Cayenne Chocolate Cake with Goat Cheese Buttercream, Roasted Cherries, and Coffee Ice Cream.

Side shot of a slice of chocolate cake with an upside down ice cream filled cone on top.

So I decided to add roasted cherries to one of my favorite sauces. I thought it would taste amazing with the Hickory Smoked Sun Dried Tomato Turkey Breast.

I created a Roasted Cherry Caper Sauce that has olive oil, lemon juice, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, and roasted fresh cherries. It plays off all the delicious flavors in the turkey to a tee.

How to Pit Cherries Without a Cherry Pitter

The most time intensive part is pitting the cherries. But it’s easy to do with this nifty trick. Just take any bottle, place the cherry in the neck, and poke a chopstick through the cherry.

You do sometimes have to pry the cherry pit out but otherwise, it works pretty well.

While the cherries are roasting you prepare and combine the rest of the sauce ingredients.

Assembly

To assemble the crostini:

Toast sliced ciabatta bread in the oven
Spread it with some goat cheese
Top with turkey slices and the sauce

I like to put a layer of sauce on top of the cheese and on top of the turkey because I like it saucy.

It’s pretty enough you can serve it right off the baking sheet you toasted the ciabatta on. Or if you wanted to serve this at a picnic it’s easily assembled later. I had leftovers too so I know they still taste great after being stored in the fridge overnight.

I’m so excited about cherry season starting, outdoor BBQs, and summer breaks! I seem to be in entertaining mode.

More stuff will be coming in the next couple of weeks that will be great for any summer parties you’ll be planning or going to. There are a couple on my calendar when my friends come back home to visit.

5 from 5 votes

Roasted Cherry Crostini with Goat Cheese and Smoked Turkey

A sweet and slightly tart Roasted Cherry Caper Sauce, creamy goat cheese, and flavor packed hickory smoked turkey breast on toasted ciabatta bread make an easy summer appetizer.

Servings

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 35

Ingredients

Roasted Cherry Caper Sauce

2 cups pitted fresh cherries
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Pinch Kosher salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, finely diced
2 tablespoons capers
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon parsley, diced

Crostini

1 loaf ciabatta bread
154 grams goat cheese 8 ounces should plenty
1/2 package Jenni-O Hickory Smoked Sun-Dried Tomato Turkey Breast, thinly sliced
Roasted Cherry Caper Sauce

Instructions

Roasted Cherry Caper Sauce

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the oven preheats, pit the cherries. Take an empty bottle (coke, beer, tonic water), place a cherry in the neck, and punch through the cherry with a chopstick or other long and thin kitchen utensil. The pit will fall to the bottom of the bottle, leaving the cherry pitted. Sometimes you have to work the pit out with your fingers.
Mix the pitted cherries with a 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and salt in a bowl.
Pour into a 9×9 inch baking dish and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cherries have darkened in color.
While the cherries cook, prep the rest of the ingredients. Whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, sugar, red pepper flakes, and kosher salt in a bowl.
Once the cherries are done roasting, pour them in with the rest of the ingredients and mix together. Once the sauce cools down to room temperature, add the parsley and mix.

Crostini

Switch the oven over to broil.
Lightly butter the ciabatta bread if desired and broil until toasted, 3 to 5 minutes.
Spread the toasted ciabatta bread with goat cheese. I like to put a little of the Roasted Cherry Caper Sauce on top of the goat cheese, then a slice of the smoked turkey, and then top with more of the sauce.

Notes

The Roasted Cherry Caper Sauce is adapted from the recipe “Lemon Halibut with Caper Sauce” in the Weber’s Big Book of Grilling.

Author: Megan Wells

Course: Appetizers

Roasted Cherry Crostini combines a sweet and slightly tart Roasted Cherry Caper Sauce, creamy goat cheese, and flavor packed hickory smoked turkey breast on toasted ciabbata bread for an excellent summer or holiday appetizer. | Sponsored by Jennie-O | Fresh or Frozen Cherries | Charcuterie Board Toppings | Cheeseboard | #crostini | www.megiswell.com