I love making these whenever my girlfriends come over for some light bites and a glass of wine. The earthy mushrooms combined with the jam and the caramelized onions go so well with our new Cabernet! The key is to chop and cook a lot of mushrooms and a lot of onions (do this ahead of time!) because they cook down to almost nothing. These also make a fab appetizer for a fancier dinner, if you want to plan something special. Enjoy!

Love, Cameron

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To prep:

Slice up your mushrooms and your onions. Remember: mushrooms are mostly water so once they cook down it will appear that there are a lot less than when you started, so make sure you slice up more than you think you need. Strip the leaves off of your sprigs of thyme and give them a rough chop.

Finely mince up your fresh cloves of garlic. The smaller you cut them, the more potent the flavor will be.

Slice up your baguette into thin crostini-sized toasts. Lay them on a baking tray and evenly coat with oil (a drizzle of olive oil or a generous spray will do the trick) to get the bread nice and crispy. Put those in the oven at 450 degrees and bake for 6-9 minutes. 

Make the topping:

Put your sliced mushrooms and onions in 2 separate, oiled pans. Sautée on high heat, then let them simmer and caramelize slowly until all the water has evaporated. It’s important to cook them separately because they have different cooking times.

Cameron recommends cooking the mushrooms until the bottom layer is nice and crispy so you have some texture in your mix. PRO TIP: salt your mushrooms towards the end of cooking for the best flavor.

Once your mushrooms have cooked down, add a small tab of butter, minced garlic, and half of the fresh thyme, and continue cooking them down for a few more minutes.

Once the onions have been cooked down and are starting to brown, add some balsamic vinegar or Avaline’s new Cabernet to give the onions some flavor.

Once both the mushrooms and onions are done cooking (they’ll be golden brown and very soft), combine them into one pan and let them sit for a few more minutes to let the flavors meld together.

Assemble your crostini:

Spread some fig jam on a bread slice, scoop some of the mushroom and onion mixture on top, sprinkle some goat cheese and fresh thyme on top of that, serve on a pretty plate, and enjoy!