Crostini Pizza Bar
A Crostini Pizza Bar is perfect for parties. Put out some toasted bread and a spread of toppings, and let everybody make their own snack.
Am I the only one that considers ordering pizza to be the weirdest, most awkward social experiment? By nature, it’s designed to be shared with a group. But that also means that you and your friends all have to agree on toppings.
I don’t know about your group of friends, but mine have pretty varied tastes. One person wants mushrooms, somebody else stand them (too bad, because they’ll miss out on creamy chicken stroganoff!).
Somebody else wants olives, but another person would rather have anything but olives. Oh, and then somebody wants a chicken pizza and the pepperoni lovers give them the side eye.
This usually results in ordering ALL of the pizzas and having leftovers for days (and spending way too much money).
With game day coming up, I came up with a fun option where everybody can get their way. It’s not quite the same as a regular pizza, but this crostini pizza bar is a fun appetizer to pair with other game day food like buffalo chicken dip with Greek yogurt and my football themed charcuterie board.
By the time you load your plate up with snacks, you pretty much have a meal, right?
Why this crostini pizza bar is so perfect for parties:
While mini pizzas (with small rounds of my recipe for homemade pizza dough) are always a great option, I’m introducing this crostini pizza bar for your consideration as you plan your game day menu.
I think make-your-own anything is always just so much fun for a party, and based on the popularity on my fajita toppings bar, a lot of people agree with me!
I mean, who doesn’t love having a big buffet in front of them and being able to choose whatever they want? It also really solves the problem of everybody agreeing on toppings. With this crostini bar idea, they don’t have to!
The meat eaters can load up on pepperoni and prosciutto, and the veggie lovers can top their crostini with green peppers and roasted garlic and blistered tomatoes. Everybody wins!
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You could even call this a “make your own pizza bar” (albeit on crunch bread instead of crust) or a “pizza themed charcuterie board” if you wanted. Put everything on one big platter to make it look like a unique charcuterie board idea.
What kind of bread should I use for a crostini bar?
Now obviously, the most important part of crostini pizza is well, the bread! You have some options here, but I like to use either French baguette or Italian bread that I cut into bite-size sliced portions.
Head to your favorite bakery or even buy some take-and-bake loaves from the grocery store and bake them up for your crostini bar.
Making the crostini is as easy as brushing the bread pieces with olive oil (both sides!), putting them on a baking pan and baking them for 15 minutes. Turn them once so they get nice and golden brown on both sides. These crostini also make the perfect dippers for roasted garlic dip.
What kinds of toppings should I include for this crostini pizza bar?
There are SO many options for your topping spread, and there’s no wrong answer. Pick and choose the ones you like best.
- pizza sauce – you could make a batch of my quick culinary school tomato sauce and add a pinch of oregano, or simply buy a jar of sauce. I love Rao’s brand!
- alfredo sauce – optional, but people could make white pizza crostini if you added this!
- shredded mozzarella – a classic pizza topping that you can’t go wrong with.
- burrata – this is a fancy, very milky style of mozzarella cheese. It’s decadent in the best way and is such a treat to spread onto crusty bread.
- pepperoni – grab a package of the sliced stuff, it’s so easy.
- bacon – cook bacon in oven in advance and crumble it up.
- baked turkey bacon – same!
- prosciutto – for the lovers of a fancy pizza. I love prosciutto with Easter charcuterie and on a breakfast charcuterie board, too.
- olives – black or green, or both! The sliced ones are easiest for crostini.
- onions – white or red, and I do these raw or sauteed, depending on preferences.
- bell peppers – you can use any variety of bell pepper, and serve them raw or sauteed. Any extra peppers can be made into fajita veggie.
- banana peppers – these are one of my favorite pizza toppings, so I include them.
- mushrooms – I prefer sauteed or even marinated mushrooms from the olive bar, but you could also do raw ones.
- roasted garlic cloves – I get these from the olive bar at my grocery store, but did you know you can even roast garlic in an air fryer?
- fresh basil leaves – put them out as a bouquet and guests can tear basil onto their crostini pizzas.
- dried oregano leaves and red pepper flakes – classic pizza accessories!
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Crostini Pizza Bar
Ingredients
- 2 French baguettes sliced 1/2-inch thick
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 green bell pepper thinly sliced (fresh or sauteed)
- 1 small red onion thinly sliced (fresh or sauteed)
- 8 ounces burrata cheese
- 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
- 6 ounces sliced pepperoni
- 6 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
- 4 ounces button mushrooms sliced (fresh or sauteed)
- 1 cup prepared pizza sauce
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup sliced banana peppers
- ⅓ cup sliced black olives
- ¼ cup roasted garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano leaves
- 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place baguette slices on 2 rimmed baking pans and lightly brush both sides with olive oil. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until crisp, turning once.
- Arrange crostini and remaining ingredients on large board or platter, and let guests assemble their own crostini.
Don’t worry this pizza crostini bar is gonna rock on Epic game day I’m sure !!
It’s all the ingredients to complete your game day platter. Looking forward some more recipes from you. Thanks for sharing this one … 🙂