Emeril Lagasse's Springy Crostini Is The Perfect Starter For Your Easter Table

We're always on the hunt for excellent Easter dishes to prepare for the holiday. Besides their religious significance, Easter meals signify a transition into spring and usually feature light, flavorful ingredients, and pastel colors. Emeril Lagasse's crostini with ricotta and spring peas recipe will check all your holiday boxes and more. The creamy, rich ricotta is the perfect foil to the fresh peas sitting atop it, and the bite-sized nature of these crostini makes them just right to serve as a light Easter appetizer before cooking up your favorite ham recipe for an entrée.

To make this appetizer, you'll want to grill both sides of your bread slices. Then, you can top them with a seasoned ricotta mixture — made with mint, shallot, and pepper — and the mashed spring peas. Since the bread underneath is grilled (you can do this in a grill pan if it's a little too cold to fire up the coals outside), you'll want to eat these crostini relatively soon after preparing them.

Our recipe for celebration of spring crostini is quite similar to Emeril Lagasse's version, though it's a little more vegetable heavy, namely in the form of peeled asparagus ribbons. These are added to the peas with a bit of sharp Parmigiano Reggiano. As such, the bite is very fresh and light, but hearty enough to tide you over until Easter dinner. Regardless of which preparation you choose, there are some important tips that you will want to keep in mind to ensure crostini success.

For one, you'll want to cut your baguette pieces to the same size — about ¼-inch thick — to ensure that they cook evenly and don't distract from the toppings on them. You could use other types of bread for this recipe as well, like ones studded with garlic or herbs, but we do advise that you select one that is sturdy and can hold up well to the weight of the toppings. Playing with acidity, such as lemon juice, will also give you a balanced bite and draw attention to the richness of the ricotta. With these techniques in mind, your Easter meal will be exactly what you hope for.