I will always love toast. The bread itself, the toppings, the simplicity…everything about it.
Bread is a vehicle for so many flavors. Whenever there’s a creamy cheese around, I automatically want a charred piece of grilled bread to go with it. Or whenever there’s a warm soup on the stove, I crave a crusty sourdough to dip right in. Or even when I decide to make some seasonal jam, it’s safe to say there will be a whole grain loaf waiting to be sliced up and slathered.
One of the best ways to use bread I find, is to make toast. You can use up whatever’s in the house or create a combination that has all the flavors you’re craving in it. Once the bread is warm and crisp, it becomes a base where you can put anything on top of it. This is one of my favorite combinations: honey, mascarpone, and radishes.
First the mascarpone cheese gets spread onto the bread while it’s still warm, so the cheese can melt into every crevice. The smooth texture with the crunchy bread is irresistible. Then comes a really good seasoning of freshly cracked black pepper and course, flaky sea salt. The flavor of the cheese (and basically of the entire toast) relies on the pepper and salt. After that, honey. For complex sweetness and silky mouthfeel. Then some good extra-virgin olive oil. The high-quality stuff that would never in a million years get touched by heat. Rich, fruity, tangy. And finally, radishes. Crisp, raw, and the perfect bitter balance to the mascarpone and honey. Enjoy!
Honey, Mascarpone, & Radish Toast
a simple toast topped with creamy mascarpone cheese, honey, shaved radishes, course sea salt, black pepper & lots of olive oil
Ingredients
Toast
- 1 loaf whole grain/seedy bread
- vegetable oil
- salt
Toppings
- ½ cup mascarpone cheese
- cracked black pepper & sea salt
- ¼ cup honey
- good quality extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 easter radishes, shaved
Instructions
- Slice the bread into ¾ inch slices. Coat the bottom of a large sauté pan with oil over medium-low heat. When the oil is hot, work in batches to toast the bread in the oil for about 3 minutes on each side. Remove the bread to a paper-towel lined tray. Season the bread immediately with salt while it’s still warm.
To Serve
- Use a spoon to spread the mascarpone over each slice of warm bread. Season the cheese with a generous amount of cracked black pepper and sea salt. Drizzle the honey and olive oil over the cheese, and garnish with the shaved radishes. Cut the toasts diagonally or leave whole.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
