Tartine Tuesday: Brie, Crispy Ham, and Green Olive Tartines

I've never been too crazy about lunch meat style ham. It's usually in some kind of rectangular shape(I've never seen a rectangular pig) and packaged in a bag with water(why?!?). Now, I'm not trying to be snooty or say I'm too good for lunch meat... I can't really afford to be picky these days. I have found a way though, to give a little umph to the blah that is lunch meat.
 

Meet my brie, crispy ham, and green olive tartines.

Brie, Crispy Ham, and Green Olive Tartines

6 slices of bread or baguette, toasted
6 slices of brie(cream cheese works really well as a substitute)
2 slices of lunch meat style ham, cut into small strips
green olives, sliced
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat a sauté or frying pan on medium to medium-high heat. Add the strips of ham and fry until crispy(as you would with bacon or lardons). Top each slice of toast with a piece of brie, crispy ham, and green olives. Salt and pepper to taste. Serves 2.

Tartine Tuesday: Mascarpone BLT Tartines

To make my life a little easier, I have decided to implement Tartine Tuesday. The tartine is the epitome of the French open-faced sandwich, usually consisting of a slice of bread topped with a spread or pâté. It is similar to the Italian bruschetta, grilled toasts topped with concoctions of tomatoes, red peppers, olives, herbs, etc... all in all, delicious.

 

So, in honor of this deliciously simple and versatile snack, each Tuesday I will post a new tartine recipe. Doing this helps me in more than one way. First, it lets me spend a little less time on writing a whole story/backdrop for a recipe(gives you more recipes, and me more time to see Paris... he he), and second, it puts an ease on my wallet, since I'll really just be improvising with whatever I already have in my kitchen!

First up to bat:

Mascarpone BLT(Basil, Lardon, Tomato) Tartines

6 slices of baguette, toasted
mascarpone cheese
6 leaves of fresh basil
150g lardons(if you don't have access to lardons, you can always just use bacon that's cut into small strips)
6 sun-dried tomatoes, in oil(I used home-made oven-dried tomatoes, which will be in the next post!)
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat a saute pan on medium to medium-low heat. Add the lardons(or bacon) and slowly render out the fat until they are browned and crispy. Place lardons on a paper towel to soak up any extra grease.

Toast the slices of baguette, and spread mascarpone cheese on each slice. Top with lardons, fresh basil, and sun-dried tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste. Serves 1-2.