Served as starter. Non-vegetarian dish.

Italian

12 slices White Bread (or 24 slices of a baguette)

1 ounce Virgin Olive Oil

1 1/2 ounces Butter

2 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour

1 cup Milk

3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese

3 ounces Mushrooms, finely diced

2 teaspoons Anchovy Paste

2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese

1 (50 gm) can rolled Anchovy Fillets

6 stuffed Olives

1/4 Red Pepper

Salt and Pepper

Cut 2" circles from the bread (or use the 1/4" baguette slices). Brush both sides of the bread with the olive oil. Place on a cookie sheet and bake in moderate oven for 10 min or until golden brown (You can make up a whole lot of these toasts for future use as they store well in a closed tin). Melt butter in a frypan. Add flour, mixing well and cook for 1 minute. Add milk and stir over moderate heat until it boils and thickens, remove from heat. Add 3 tablespoon parmesan,Salt& pepper and mushrooms. Mix well. Add anchovy paste and stir through. The mixture looks a bit loose but it will bake perfectly Spread 2 teasp on each toast and generously sprinkle with the extra parmesan. Freeze them for future use Slice the olives and put a slice of olive on some of the crostinis. Put a rolled anchovy on some. Put a thin slice on red pepper on the remaining crostinis. Bake in a hot oven (400F degrees) for 10 minutes or until they are bubbly and brown on top. Serve and wait for the rave revues.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Yields: 24 Crostini

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