Brown Butter Ricotta Crostini with Prosciutto

It's great to have simple appetizers and finger food to pick at during the holidays. These ricotta crostini are easy to make and will leave your guests reaching back for another. Perfectly balanced with salt, fat and acid, these party appetizers go down a real treat.

We've all seen plenty of ricotta crostini recipes before, but the texture and flavors in these brown butter ricotta crostini are next to none. If you're looking for other snacks and appetizers, you definitely need to try our roasted beetroot hummus with our sourdough crackers.

We know you'll love this simple crostini recipe so be sure to leave us a comment and rate the recipe card below too! We love hearing from you. You can follow the links here to get to where you need.

Here are some reasons why you need this ricotta crostini recipe in your life:

Simple - this recipe is simple to follow, with only a few regularly available ingredients to really elevate your appetizer game during the party season.

Make ahead - the components of these ricotta crostini are easy to make ahead and keep on hand until you are ready to assemble and serve.

Flavor - oh my! The brown butter whipped ricotta is so tasty and works perfectly with all the other toppings. Just make it, trust us!

Fun - use our fun little twist to add an extra level of deliciousness to your festive season.

Holidays - perfect and hassle free for the holidays. You can make everything ahead of time and simply assemble when ready to serve. That's what we like, stress free entertaining!

Ricotta - be sure to use a high quality ricotta, you can tell this from the ingredients, it should only be milk and a form of acidity.

Salted butter - you can't have brown butter without butter! We use salted butter here as it helps to perfectly season the ricotta for the crostini.

Bread - we use a baguette but you can use whatever bread you like, cutting it into the shapes you need and following the same instructions below. You can definitely do this ricotta crostini with gluten free bread.

Toppings - we love to top our ricotta crostini with apple slices, prosciutto, honey, walnuts and pomegranate arils. Check out our other options for toppings to customize your crostini.

We know you love to mix things up with customizations and substitutions so here are some of our recommendations for this whipped ricotta crostini recipe:

Antipasti - try topping with some grilled artichokes, sliced roasted peppers or sundried tomatoes.

Protein - try different proteins, we recommend other charcuterie like coppa, bresaola or some wafer thin slices of salami, especially finocchiona.

Vegan - we haven't tested it but you can top these ricotta crostini with vegan ricotta or plant based cream cheese. Try it with a dairy free butter and let us know how you get on! Note that some vegan butters may not brown.

Gluten free - we've made this recipe using cut out gluten free bread and it works just fine. You can use rye bread, sourdough or any bread you like, but for a traditional crostini we prefer a baguette.

Brown butter - once you've made your brown butter, allow it to cool completely, even until it sets a bit, then whip it into the ricotta.

Make ahead - whip the ricotta and store in a piping bag in the fridge. You can also bake and crisp up your crostini ahead of time. However, be sure to store in air tight containers as they will start to soften over time.

Taste - check the taste of the ricotta. We think the recipe is delicious as is, but everyone has preferences, so adjust the lemon juice or season a little more if you need or want to.

Ricotta - sometimes ricotta likes to weep, if it releases some liquid just place it on some kitchen paper to absorb it. If you add this in the whipped ricotta can be thinned a lot, but it does depend on the brand of ricotta you use.

Thickness - if you find your whipped ricotta is too thick, you can thin by adding a touch of milk or lemon juice. If it's too thin, you can put it in some kitchen paper or cheesecloth in a sieve to absorb some of the extra liquid and it will thicken up.