Crostini with Black Olives & Mushrooms

This is the kind of starter that looks generous and costs almost nothing: toasted bread, a rough black-olive paste, and garlicky pan-fried mushrooms piled on top. It comes together in the time it takes the oven to toast the bread, and it tastes of the whole sunny Mediterranean.

Crostini are the Italian answer to a hungry table and a bare cupboard: good bread, toasted, with something savoury spooned on top. This version pairs a rough paste of black olives with garlicky mushrooms, and the contrast is the whole point — the deep, briny olive against the soft, earthy mushroom, both lifted by a little marjoram and a thread of good olive oil. It is a starter that punches far above its cost and effort.

Ingredients (makes 12)

• 12 slices of ciabatta or French bread
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more to finish
• 75 g pitted black olives (a proper brine-cured kind)
• 250 g mushrooms
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tsp fresh marjoram, chopped (or half a tsp dried)
• salt and pepper

Method

1. Clean the mushrooms with a brush rather than washing them — they soak up water like sponges — then slice them.
2. Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the mushrooms, garlic and marjoram and fry for about 3 minutes, until soft and fragrant. Season to taste.
3. Blitz the pitted olives with the olive oil in a small food processor to a rough, chunky paste.
4. Toast the bread until golden, on a griddle or under the grill.
5. Spread each toast with the olive paste, pile the mushrooms on top, and finish with a thread of raw extra virgin. Serve at once, while the toast is still crisp.

Getting it right

Two small things make this dish. First, the olives: use a real brine-cured black olive with flavour, not the soft, dyed canned rings — the paste is the backbone, so it has to taste of something. Second, dry mushrooms: brushed, not washed, and fried hot enough to colour rather than stew, so they stay meaty. Assemble at the last minute; crostini that sit go soft and sad. A final raw drizzle of peppery extra virgin ties it all together and should never be skipped.

• Use real brined black olives, not dyed canned ones — the paste carries the dish.
• Brush, don’t wash, mushrooms and fry them hot so they stay meaty.
• Toast and top at the last minute to keep the bread crisp.
• Finish with raw extra virgin for aroma the cooking cannot give.

Olive & mushroom crostini: common questions

What olives work best for the paste?

A proper brine-cured black olive with real flavour — Kalamata or a good Provençal black. Avoid the soft, dyed canned rings, which taste of little and make a bland paste.

Can I make the olive paste ahead?

Yes. The rough olive paste keeps for several days in the fridge under a film of olive oil. Toast the bread and fry the mushrooms fresh, though, and assemble just before serving.

Why brush mushrooms instead of washing?

Mushrooms absorb water like sponges, which makes them stew rather than fry. Brushing off the dirt keeps them dry so they colour and stay meaty in the pan.

What bread should I use?

A firm, open loaf — ciabatta or a baguette-style French bread — sliced and toasted until golden and crisp so it holds the topping without going soggy.

Can I make it vegan?

Easily — swap the butter for more olive oil. The olives and mushrooms already do the savoury work, so you lose nothing.

A kitchen recipe for black-olive and mushroom crostini.