Shrimp and Red Pepper Crostini

Yikes, I feel like it's been forever since I wrote something on here! I had the best of intentions of writing at least 2 blog posts last week while I was in eastern Kentucky for work. But I guess you could say that I was a little uninspired by my time in Kentucky, and a little exhausted after driving and hiking up and down the hills all day. So no posts were written. Then when I got home on Thursday, I had to make 4 dozen cupcakes with fondant toppers for a coworker's wife's birthday to deliver to him at work on Friday morning. The weekend came and went with various house projects and hanging out with friends, and once again, no blog posts got written. That brings us to tonight. I have 2 recipes and at least one house project/update to share with you all so I'll start with this delicious appetizer I made last weekend to bring to a friends house for a little wine tasting party/game night.

Although I didn't follow a recipe for this dish, I did have some inspiration. A couple weekends ago when Joe and I went to St. Louis, I went out to eat with Joe's mom, sisters, grandma and aunt at Zia's on The Hill and I ordered the Crostini Gamberetti as my meal. It was listed as an appetizer and the description stated "Rounds of Italian seed bread toasted and topped with shrimp, cream cheese, diced red peppers, green onions and fresh parmigiana". I quickly inhaled all the crostini that came with my meal and knew that I needed to recreate it at home. Soon. When the time came to make it, I referenced the Zia's menu online for the ingredient list once again and started to create my own version. The end result wasn't exactly like Zia's but they were just as delicious, only a little different. Here's my own recipe for Crostini Gamberetti. Or as I'm going to call it...

Shrimp and Red Pepper Crostini
(Makes approx. 30 crostini)

1 baguette, cut into 1/2" slices
8 oz. cream cheese, softened (1/3 less fat is fine)
2 T. chipotle mayonnaise (regular mayo would work too)
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound raw shrimp, shelled and cut in half
parmesan cheese
1 T. olive oil
Cooking spray
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the bell peppers, green onions and garlic. Cook for 3-4 minutes until they start becoming soft.

Add the shrimp to the skillet and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and cooked through.

In a medium bowl combine the cream cheese and the mayonnaise. Add the shrimp mixture from the skillet to the cream cheese mixture, stirring to combine.

Place the slices of bread onto a baking sheet. Spray lightly with cooking spray and place in the oven for 5 minutes to lightly crisp the tops.

Remove the bread from the oven and place a spoonful of the shrimp mixture on top of each crostini. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese over the crostini and place back in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple minutes before eating. These were best while still warm, but I had some once they cooled down to room temperature and they were still delicious!  Enjoy!

I hope you are all having a great week and enjoying the cooler weather that seems to be moving in!