Roasted Metis®, Mint and Cream Cheese Crostini

Summer fruit welcomes a brand-new stone-fruit variety to the shelves this year and it’s called Metis®. Pronounced Me-teece, this natural cross between a plum and apricot is firm and crisp on the outside while being sweet and juicy on the inside.

Metis® fruit has been naturally bred using bees to cross-pollinate apricot pollen and plum blooms which are then crossed with plum trees. This produces the gorgeous and mouth-watering fruit. As the fruit is a cross between a plum and an apricot, it has a small stone on the inside, too.

There are four members to the Metis® family, each available at different points throughout the season, giving each unique flavours and colours to note. The exotic names play on and epitomise their characteristics and just make you want to eat them:

• Oxy Solar – this one is dark purple on the outside and deep purple inside.
• Dark Moon – as the name suggests, it has an intense violet coloured skin with a tender orange flesh.
• Safari Star – this fruit has lightly speckled skin and delicate pink insides.
• Sunset Sky – this one has a gorgeous red skin and vibrant yellow flesh.

I love fruit, as you may realise from all the fruit bakes, cakes and breakfasts I post, but importantly, I wanted to show that Metis® fruit are highly versatile and can be the base for many sweet and savoury recipes.

Roasted Metis® Mint and Cream Cheese Crostini

So, when I was challenged to come up with a few recipe ideas, I struggled to pick my favourites. The one that did win the day is a quick and easy recipe: Roasted Metis®, Mint and Cream Cheese Crostini.

Perfect for a light lunch, or as appetisers at a BBQ or dinner party, these finger-food nibbles are a real crowd-pleaser, and no-one would notice they are vegan, healthy and easily gluten-free. Simply toast your favourite bread or use crackers, spread generously with vegan cream cheese and then comes the star of the show: roasted Metis®. Tender, sweet, juicy, and tangy, these Metis® fruits turn wonderfully sticky and rich in the oven and make for a perfect crostini-topper.

For this recipe feature, I chose the Oxy Solar Metis® family member as the deep rich purple colour creates the best flavour and colour contrast although you could select any variety mentioned above.

Roasted Metis® Mint and Cream Cheese Crostini

The jammy fruits contrast beautifully with the smooth cream cheese and crunchy bread base, finished off with refreshing mint leaves and cracked black pepper, sprinkled with crunchy pistachios and a drizzle of sticky sweet syrup. These Roasted Metis®, Mint and Cream Cheese Crostini will really impress your guests.

Roasted Metis®, Mint and Cream Cheese Crostini

• Servings: 15
• Time: 25 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

A quick and easy recipe of crunchy toasted fresh bread with creamy vegan cream cheese and sticky sweet roasted Metis® - perfect for finger-food and snacks.

Ingredients

• Roasted Metis®:
• 8 Metis® – I used Oxy Solar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp syrup (e.g. fruit, maple or vegan honey)
• Salt
• 1 small fresh baguette, sliced into rounds
• 150g vegan cream cheese
• 4 sprigs fresh mint
• Cracked black pepper
• Crushed pistachios
• Extra syrup

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.

2. Slice the Metis® fruit in half, remove the stone and cut each half into 4 wedges. Toss the fruit in the olive oil and syrup with a pinch of salt. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until tender but holding their shape.

3. Toast the bread rounds under the grill, in the oven or toaster for a few minutes until golden and crisp to make the crostini.

4. Spread each crostini with some vegan cream cheese, top with a few wedges of roasted Metis® and finish with a few mint leaves and cracked black pepper. Spoon over some of the roasted Metis® juices, too. Sprinkle with some crushed pistachios and a drizzle of syrup, if desired.

Roasted Metis® Mint and Cream Cheese Crostini

I hope you will love this recipe and if you do make it, please let me know by leaving a comment below and tagging me in your creations. I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

The recipe was created in paid partnership with Metis®. All opinions are my own and I am so excited for this fruit to hit the supermarket shelves this summer as it’s truly unique and delicious.