Leeky Pear Mushroom Toasts

What time does your body naturally wake up in the morning? Are you an early riser or a late dozer? Do you nap? When do you do your best thinking? Are you usually holding a cup of coffee while you're getting shit done? Tea? Wine? Not that wine in the morning is a bad thing. Wine is never a bad thing. Wine is always a good thing. Always.

The reason I ask is that on Saturday morning I slept until 11:30am. I'm not bragging. I'm a pretty get-up-and-get-em kinda girl and I rarely sleep later than 8am. For some reason though, I felt so tired and unmotivated that I actually slept until 11:30am this weekend. By the time I got up the day was half gone and I hadn't done a thing.

For some people this makes for a great day off. For an obsessively-compulsive, productive A-type personality like me, it was torture. I spent the rest of the day trying to make up for the 3 hours I missed earlier. Blogging. Blog commenting. Job hunting. Eating. Carmen Electra-ing. Cleaning. Showering. Organizing. Grocery shopping. And then... I needed another nap. Aye. Apparently my body is telling me I need my beauty sleep. Fair enough, body. Fair. Enough.

One dish that I made for our second annual New Years Eve feast that will not make you want a nap - that is unless you want to chow it and then go to sleep and re-live the savory experience in your most lusciously delicious dreams - is leeky pear & mushroom toasts. These little babies were inspired by Happy Yolks, the recipe slightly adjusted to include ingredients that I had access to. They were hearty, warm, not too heavy, and really a joy to eat.

Leeky Pear & Mushroom Toasts

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 Baguette, cut into 1" slices at an angle.

4 C Sliced Leeks (whites and just a touch of green).
1 Lb. Fresh Wild Mushrooms, roughly chopped.

1 D'Anjou Pear, diced with skins on.

1 Small Cipollini Onion, minced.

1 Bird's Eye Chili, thinly sliced. 

2 Garlic Cloves, peeled and smashed.

A Couple Sprigs of Fresh Thyme, stemmed & chopped.
Small Handful of Fresh Flat-Leaf Italian Parsley, roughly chopped.

1/4 C Dry White Wine.

Goat Cheese, to spread.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Good Quality Balsamic Vinegar.

Kosher Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper.

What to Do:

Pre-heat your broiler.

Heat a few glugs of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks, stirring to coat, and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add the pears, the white wine, and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer about 5 minutes then reduce the heat to low.

In a second pan, heat another glug of olive oil. Add the mushrooms, onion, thyme, and chili, seasoning with salt and pepper. Stir well to combine. Allow to cook down for about 8 minutes. Toss in a glug or two of balsamic vinegar, stir, and continue cooking a further 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the parsley.

As your mushrooms cook, throw the sliced bread onto a baking sheet and under the broiler. Watch it - it'll burn quickly! Toast so the edges get nice and crispy - now you have crostinis! Remove from the heat and rub with the smashed garlic. Hello flavour!

Smear the goat cheese on the crostinis, and pile with the leek mixture, followed by that of the mushrooms. Season lightly with a little salt.

Eat.

This post is linked up withTasty Tuesdays, Tuesday Talent Show, Cast Party Wednesdays, Tastetastic Thursday, Full Plate Thursday.