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Tomato Bruschetta Crostini With Alouette

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This tomato bruschetta crostini with Alouette is the perfect, easy summer appetizer for serving a crowd at a cookout, a quick afternoon snack, or even as part of a light dinner.

A white ceramic dish of freshly made tomato bruschetta crostini topped with spreadable cheese.

As we’ve mentioned before, we love having what we call aperitivo nights: a delicious wine and cheese night that we pretend counts as a meal. Sometimes it’s a picnic lunch, and sometimes it’s a fancy “dinner” to celebrate a holiday or special occasion. But it’s always an excuse to eat a whole baguette and a ton of cheese. 

Since there’s no better way to enjoy bread and cheese than perfectly paired together with fresh toppings and spreads, we’re sharing one of our favorite cheese night appetizer recipes: fresh tomato bruschetta crostini with Alouette garlic and herb cheese.

What To Expect

  • Great for: Summer snacks, light appetizers for cookouts, or a delicious addition to a dinner made up of small plates.
  • Ready in: 20 minutes or less
  • Serves: 6 to 12 people
  • Flavor profile: Fresh, garlicky, and light.
  • How to make it: Make crostini, make bruschetta topping, and serve either pre-assembled or as a self assembly station.

We hope you love this recipe!

If you give it a try, please let us know what you think by leaving a rating and review. We read and reply to every single comment!

Why We Love This Recipe

This is the perfect, easy and light appetizer for summer gatherings to help hold over hungry guests before dinner is served. This is one of our go-tos for cookouts or easy afternoon snacks.

– Nicole and Alex

Key Ingredients

Ingredients for making bruschetta crostini: sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, garlic and herb spreadable cheese, minced garlic, roma tomatoes, yellow onion, and baguette.
  • Bread – A classic baguette works best for this recipe. Check the bakery section of your local grocery store.
  • Garlic – Fresh garlic is more work but tastes better, minced garlic is far easier but isn’t as potent. Your choice, we often opt for minced garlic.
  • Tomatoes – We prefer roma tomatoes (also known as plum tomatoes) for our topping thanks to their low moisture content. This way they don’t make the crostini soggy or water down the flavorful topping. 
  • Onion – Yellow or white onion both work well for this recipe. We tend to use whatever we already have at home. 
  • Garlic and herb spreadable cheese – It’s hard to beat Alouette’s garlic and herb cheese, it’s a go-to appetizer for us on its own and makes this recipe incredibly easy.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Tomato Bruschetta Crostini

Three photos showing a bowl of olive oil with garlic and salt mixed in, then coating both sides of baguette slices in the mixture.

Step 1: Fill a shallow dish with about a quarter inch of olive oil, then stir in minced garlic and sea salt. Dip baguette slices in the olive oil and gently press down to coat in oil. Flip and press down gently again, then transfer crostini to the prepared baking sheet.

A side by side photo of oiled crostini slices on a large ceramic baking sheet, before and after toasting in the oven.

Step 2: Bake crostini for 6 minutes or until bottoms are slightly crisped. Then flip each crostini over and bake for another 6 minutes, or until bottoms are lightly toasted.

A glass mixing bowl of freshly made tomato bruschetta topping, made with diced tomato, diced onion, garlic, salt, and olive oil.

Step 3: Prepare the bruschetta by combining diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, and olive oil in a medium bowl. Stir well to combine, then season with sea salt to taste.

A small crostini topped with garlic herb spreadable cheese and tomato bruschetta served on a small blue stone plate.

Step 4: To plate and serve, spread a layer of garlic and herb cheese onto each crostini and top with a spoonful of bruschetta. Enjoy!

Expert Tips

  • Use a store-bought bruschetta – Many grocery stores have pre-made fresh bruschetta that is normally pretty good! There was one at our local Whole Foods in California that we loved to buy. It makes this recipe super easy for parties or just an easy anytime snack at home. 
  • Assembly – Once you assemble the crostini, they may get soggy if they sit too long. So if you’re planning on making this for a party, we recommend setting out a build-your-own appetizer station.
  • Make a build-your-own crostini bar – Lay out crostini with different topping options such as bruschetta, Alouette, no nut basil pesto, sun dried tomato pesto, sun dried tomato basil cream cheese, and more! And let your guests build their own flavor-packed combinations.
A long white serving platter of tomato bruschetta crostini with alouette garlic and herb cheese spread.

Serving Suggestions

Appetizers and small plates are some of our favorite recipes. Their versatility allows us to make a meal with so many different flavor combinations that we can enjoy in a single sitting. Here are some of our favorite small plates to serve alongside our bruschetta crostini, whether we make them for a wine and cheese night for the two of us, or appetizers for a party: 

For more tips and inspiration on hosting a wine and cheese night or tapas party, check out these posts:

However you enjoy your wine and cheese nights, these tomato bruschetta crostini are a great addition. We’d love to hear about your favorite wine and cheese pairings in the comments below! And if you love Alouette as much as we do, and are looking for more recipes made with Alouette’s Garlic and Herb spreadable cheese, check out our fettuccine Alouette-o for a fun and easy take on fettuccine Alfredo.

Tomato Crostini FAQs

Well this one gets kinda interesting because traditionally bruschetta is an Italian dish consisting of grilled bread rubbed with garlic, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with salt. Bruschetta are generally larger, thicker slices of bread that are still soft in the middle and can be topped with a variety of ingredients. While crostini on the other hand are smaller toasted slices of bread with various toppings. 

However, in America, it has become very normal to see the tomato salad topping referred to as bruschetta, and the bread referred to as crostini. Which is where the term bruschetta crostini comes from. And why you can find bruschetta (the topping) in a jar at the grocery store. 

So while technically crostini and bruschetta are two different ways of preparing toasted bread, in America at least, most people are referring to the tomato topping when they say bruschetta.

I’ll first ask you to read the answer to the above question…

But yes, if you are referring to the tomato, garlic, and olive oil topping, it goes great on some crostini! We love to serve it with a layer of Alouette cheese as well!

Most commonly, bruschetta topping is made from tomato, garlic, basil, and olive oil. However we like to add in some diced onion for a little extra zing.

Other Easy Appetizer Recipes

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Tell us what you think!

We hope you enjoy this recipe! When you try it out, please leave a review and a star rating in the comments below. Happy cooking! – Nicole and Alex

A long white serving platter of tomato bruschetta crostini with alouette garlic and herb cheese spread.

Tomato Bruschetta Crostini

Nicole & Alex Langdon
This tomato bruschetta crostini with Alouette is the perfect, easy summer appetizer for serving a crowd at a cookout, a quick afternoon snack, or even as part of a light dinner.
5 from 2 votes
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Prep Time 8 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine Italian
Servings 36 crostini
Calories 64 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

Crostini

  • 1 fresh baguette sliced into 36 half-inch rounds
  • ½ to ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 pinch sea salt

Bruschetta

  • 2 roma tomatoes diced
  • ¼ medium onion diced
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt to taste

Other toppings

  • 6.5 ounces garlic & herb spreadable cheese

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with foil.
  • Start by preparing the crostini. Fill a shallow dish with about a quarter inch of olive oil, then stir in minced garlic and sea salt to combine. Working in batches, place the baguette slices in the olive oil and gently press down to let them soak. Flip and press down gently again, then transfer crostini to the prepared baking sheet.
  • Bake crostini for 6 minutes or until bottoms are slightly crisped. Then flip each crostini over and bake for another 6 minutes, or until bottoms are lightly toasted.
  • Next, prepare the bruschetta. Combine diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, and olive oil in a medium bowl. Stir well to combine, then season with sea salt to taste. Set aside.
  • To plate this appetizer, spread about 1 teaspoon of garlic & herb cheese onto each crostini. Top crostini with a spoonful of fresh bruschetta and serve immediately.
One last step:Please consider leaving a review to let us know how it was!

Notes

Tomatoes: We prefer roma tomatoes (also known as plum tomatoes) for our topping thanks to their low moisture content so they don’t make the crostini soggy. But you can experiment with other varieties, or use store bought tomato bruschetta instead of making your own.
Onion: Yellow or white onion both work well for this recipe. We tend to use whatever we already have at home.
Olive oil: Depending on how dense your bread is, the amount of olive oil needed for coating the crostini will vary. Work in batches and keep refilling the dish with about a quarter inch of oil as needed – you only need enough to lightly coat both sides of the crostini in a thin layer of oil.
Assembly: Once you assemble the crostini, they may get soggy if they sit too long. So if you’re planning on making this for a party, we recommend setting out a build-your-own appetizer station with the crostini, a tub of Alouette cheese, and bruschetta in an assembly line!

Nutrition

Serving: 1crostiniCalories: 64kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 1gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 72mgPotassium: 19mgFiber: 0.2gSugar: 0.5gVitamin A: 29IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 8mgIron: 0.3mg
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If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.

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90% of Nicole’s thoughts are about food. She’s had a passion for cooking (and eating) for as long as she can remember! Growing up, she started cooking with her mom at a young age, learned family recipes from her Italian grandmother, took every opportunity to make cookies (so many bake sales), and always loved going out to restaurants to try new foods.

Nicole currently works part-time as a marketing professional for OmieLife while also working nonstop on The Candid Cooks. As a former mechanical engineer, Nicole has consistently found herself at the intersection of creativity and logical reasoning. She credits not only her passion for photography, design, and writing, but also her problem-solving nature and desire to learn, as the foundation on which The Candid Cooks was built.

Nicole’s hobbies include anything that gets her moving - mainly hiking, skiing, ice skating, and dancing - as well as reading fantasy novels and scrapbooking. Her favorite food is a big plate of nachos, as long as they’re cheesy enough!

5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)

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One Comment

  1. 5 stars
    This recipe was such a happy little accident. We love trying all the different combinations of flavors when we put out a cheese and appetizer spread. And this one was so good we knew it needed to be its own recipe.

    Reply