I know we’ve chatted about some seriously good recipes this week, but let’s be honest, we all know the best game day eats are the snacky ones…or at least I like to call them snacks…snacks are just way more fun <– says the kid in me! ?. Especially the ones that are cute and mini and easily eaten in a bite or two. And these chicken parmesan meatball crostini bites are exactly that. These fun bites are just like chicken parmesan, only instead of the pasta I swapped in a whole grain baguette and sort of reinvented the classic to make a fun Super Bowl (or really, anytime) snack! Pretty excited about it! Also…I am pretty excited that today is February first! For one, today is my brother Brendan’s birthday. He’s turning 27 and man, all I have to say is that time is going waay too fast. Soon enough that will be me, and it’s already freaking me the heck out….YIKES! Second, I love the month of February for many reasons, but most importantly because it’s an entire month full of all things chocolate…YES! I’m talking Valentine’s Day chocolate! Even though I’m not huge on Valentine’s Day, I love the idea of a month filled with sweet treats. And while I am for the most part going to stick to the well-balanced meals and desserts I have been showing you guys throughout Healthy January, I’m excited to share a few chocolate goodies too!
Anyway, I can’t think of a better recipe to kick off the month of February than these chicken parmesan crostini bites. Not only are they great for Sunday’s Super Bowl, but they would be equally great as a Valentine’s Day recipe. Got to love a versatile recipe! I know I’ve told you this before, but typically when brainstorming recipes I’ll write a whole bunch of ideas down, pick my favorites and then send them to a handful of family members and ask them to pick their favorites. Since I wanted this week’s recipes to be geared towards fun game day recipes, this time, I sent my ideas off to my brothers. The results were unanimous, Tuesday’s buffalo cheddar pretzels and these chicken parmesan crostini. I was kind of surprised that they picked this recipe, but only because I didn’t think they even knew what crostini are. So I asked them about it. They all said they weren’t sure what crostini are, but the sound of chicken parmesan sounded amazing, so they were sold. Well, OK then, I guess chicken parmesan is a winner in any form…cool. cool.
For real though, what could you not love about this recipe. Oven toasted bread with fresh basil, lots of parmesan and marinara sauce. Then top all of that off with a basil and parmesan meatball. Yum! Oh and of course, you have to melt a little mozzarella over top of the meatballs, because all the best chicken parmesan recipes are finished with ooey, goey melted mozzarella, it’s just a must. The great part about these crostini are that you can prepare everything in advance, even assembly. Then just bake and melt the mozzarella before you’re ready to serve. Entertaining is stressful enough, so I love that I can have a handful of go-to easy, but delicious, recipes like this one on hand. Plus, like I said, these are beyond amazing, and come on, who could not love chicken parmesan on crusty toasted bread? It’s the best combo. Oh, and if you wanted to make just the meatballs and serve them over pasta, that works too. Just sayin’.
And since they are mini, that means going back for seconds and thirds is cool, right? Obviously, YES.
