Sweet, saffron and butter flavored tomatoes top tangy labneh in this Pan Roasted Saffron Tomato Crostini with Labneh. Creamy, salty, sweet, crunchy, and delicious, it’s a simple yet elegant appetizer.
It’s SRC REVEAL DAY for group D. I love love LOVE SRC!
For those that don’t know, SRC (Secret Recipe Club) is a group of extremely talented bloggers, chefs, and food-thousiasts like myself. Once a month, we sign up to participate and once a month we’re assigned a fellow blogger in our group. Once we have found and created or re-created a recipe on the blog we are assigned, we create a post telling everyone about our assigned blogger, their blog, and the chosen recipe on our specified group reveal date. I’m not explaining it all that well. So, you’d better head on over to their website and read about it yourself. It’s awesome and I’ve found some really wonderful blogs to follow and be inspired by.
Like this one!
Actually, it’s sort of two. But I’ll get to that in a minute.
This month, I was assigned Couscous & Consciousness. Sue’s blog is over flowing with delicious recipes. The ingredients, while not uncommon, are usually not found on most blogs I read. I was thrilled to scroll through her recipes to get inspired.
I loved scrolling through her recipes because she has some that are quick to make. Since she sometimes teaches in the evenings, she has to whip up dinner on the quick. That’s been our life lately, late getting home = fast dinners.
So, now, back to the two recipes. I spent at least two weeks trying to pick just one recipe to cook up. And, well, I couldn’t. I latched on to this recipe for Saffron Roasted Tomatoes with Labneh. It looked fabulous and the flavors were so intriguing me. But, I couldn’t find labneh. So, I just had to make some of that, too. Honestly, you can’t have one without the other!
I had been reading about this new, hot, delicious food trend; at least in the blogosphere. It sounded creamy and delicious and I just HAD to make some. And boy, am I glad I did!! This stuff is AMAZING! It’s like goat cheese only tangier and made with ingredients you can get at any grocery store. Its Greek yogurt and salt. Voila. How hard is that?
But something that tangy needs something sweet to counter it. Enter the delicious tomatoes. Now, Sue roasts them in the oven with some harissa and saffron. I had another idea for saffron roasted tomatoes. I wanted to pan roast them. I wanted to pan roast them with some butter and some saffron. I was thoroughly intrigued by those two flavors paired with some browned butter. And I will admit that I almost licked the pan.
ALMOST!
The butter is cooked until it just starts to brown. Then you add the saffron and allow it to flavor the butter a few minutes before putting in the tomatoes. The tomatoes are cooked until they’re start to break down, but only just. When that happens, remove the pan from the heat, toast up your bread, and sit down to enjoy some amazing tomato and labneh flavors!
I mean, just look at that bite! Some labneh, some tomatoes, some fabulous saffron browned butter. With flavors like this, how can anyone resist not reading Sue’s blog, Couscous & Counsciousness.
Pan Roasted Saffron Tomato Crostini with Labneh
Sweet, saffron and butter flavored tomatoes top tangy labneh in this Pan Roasted Saffron Tomato Crostini with Labneh. Creamy, salty, sweet, crunchy, and delicious, it’s a simple yet elegrant appetizer.
Ingredients
For the labneh:
- 2 cups nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the pan roasted saffron tomatoes:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes
- pinch saffron
- salt and pepper to taste
- 15 to 20 slices of crostini bread
Instructions
For the labneh:
- The day before, line a a sieve with a double layer of cheesecloth or paper towels. Set the sieve over a bowl and set aside.
- In a small bowl mix the yogurt and the salt together until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the yogurt into the strainer and bring up the edges of the cloth. Pull the corners of the cloth up around the yogurt, making sure it's nice and tight. Tie the edges together into a bundle with kitchen twine. Place the strainer and bowl in the refrigerator and allow to strain 24 to 48 hours or until yur desired consistency is reached.
For the tomatoes:
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl the oil into the pan before adding the garlic. Cook the garlic 2 to 3 minutes or until fragrant. Stir in the saffron and cook a minute or two before adding the tomatoes. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook 10 to 15 minutes or until the tomatoes have burst and release their juices.
- Spread some labneh on a piece of bread and top with tomatoes before serving.
- Apple Fritter Bread by Life On Food
- Avocado, Bacon, Sundried Tomato Tartine with Roasted Garlic Cream Cheese Spread by The Kitchen Witch
- Baked Fish on Polenta with Chorizo Butter by Couscous and Consciousness
- Bean and Basil Pesto Penne by Without Adornment
- Black Bean and Beer Queso by Sew You Think You Can Cook
- Blended Root Beer Float by Lynsey Lou’s
- Brown Butter Fried Apples by Feed Me, Seymour
- Cheddar and Onion Cracker Pie by Shockingly Delicious
- Cherry Sakura Scones by Hapatite
- Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Shells by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge by Fantastical Sharing of Recipes
- Chocolate Fudge Cake by Burnt Apple
- Chorizo Chicken with Olives and Roasted Peppers by A Calculated Whisk
- Coconut Vanilla Tapioca with Mango Sauce by Fried Ice and Donut Holes
- Fantastic Cuban Sandwiches by Food, Baby, Life
- Glazed Lemon Pound Cake by Making Miracles
- Gluten-Free & Vegan Banana Bread Pancakes by 84th & 3rd
- Greek Souvlaki Skewers with Tzatziki by Natural Noshing
- Grilled Chicken Gyro Salad with Pita Croutons by Palatable Pasttime
- Homemade Breakfast Sausage by Lavendar & Lovage
- Homemade Tahini by Chocolate & Chillies
- Lamb Meatlballs with Toasted Orzo by Bewitching Kitchen
- Mac ‘n Cheese Impossible Pie by The Wimpy Vegetarian
- Mango Flambe by Curious Cuisinere
- Marinated Goat Cheese by Tara’s Multicultural Table
- Pan Roasted Saffron Tomato Crostini with Labneh by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Pineapple Fried Rice by Fearless Homemaker
- Spaghetti Aglio e Olio by Enriching Your Kids
- Strawberry Agua de Fresca by I Am a Honeybee
- Tasty Gluten and Dairy Free Banana Bread by Turnips 2 Tangerines
- Whole Wheat Peasant Boule with Flax and Fennel Seeds by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Zucchini Lasagna by The Spiffy Cookie
Patty from Chili Pepper Madness says
This looks delicious. I love the inclusion of saffron. It is such a unique ingredient and essential to our favorite paella. I’ll bet it would really bring this dish to life.
Christie Campbell says
Thank you, Patty!! I love using saffron in many different ways. I baked it into some beingnets one year and it was amazing!
lk529 says
What a simply beautiful appetizer. I’d definitely give that a try!
Christie Campbell says
Thank you! It truly was delicious and I almost licked the pan.
Christine says
Mmm, I love making labneh since it’s one of the only cheeses we can get without taking a 40 minute bus ride (I’m usually not quite so patient). And tomatoes on bread…it’s literally something I crave. In college, I used to come home and make cheese with tomato sauce and rye. Saffron is a nice addition!
Christie Campbell says
I used to love tomato sandwiches for lunch. No longer. But this appetizer was amazingly delicious.
nicole @ i am a honey bee says
ooo that tomato looks heavenly.
Love this pick this month!!
Christie Campbell says
They truly were, thank you. I never thought of tomatoes and saffron. I’m so glad I was assigned Couscous & Consciousness.
Lynsey @ Lynsey Lou's says
Yum! This sounds fabulous! Happy (late) reveal day!
Christie Campbell says
Thank you, Lynsey! It is pretty darn tasty, if I do say so.
emmajeanne16 says
I am drooling over these little toasts. They look so good. Great pick!
Christie Campbell says
Thank you. I couldn’t stop eating them. You have been warned. They’re addictive.
Traci says
YUM! Crostini!! This turned out so pretty! Great SRC pick and hope you had a great Memorial Day.
Wendy, A Day in the Life on the Farm says
Hold on one second. Okay, I’m back….I had to clean the drool from my keyboard. This is my idea of a perfect first course!
Christie Campbell says
You’re too funny, Wendy!! I honesty DID have a hard time NOT eating it all. And I may or may not have licked the pan… *wink*
Karen @ Karen's Kitchen Stories says
That sounds amazing! You definitely went the extra mile. I am Impressed with a capital I. (P.S. your link up goes to your main page, not this post)
Christie Campbell says
Yes. I can’t get the redirect to work correctly in the last 4 posts. But thank you! It is SUPER tasty and so easy.