Tzimmes Crostini
All the tastiness of tzimmes, in a convenient bite. It’s Tzimmes Crostini! The perfect fall appetizer.
Don’t these just scream fall? And make me for Rosh Hashanah? Well not literally, because that would be terrifying, but I love all these colors and textures. I was thinking of what to make for a new recipe for Rosh Hashanah and my mind went to tzimmes, the comforting stew of carrots, sweet potatoes, dried fruit cooked in spices (and wine if you like! I like.)
But I was also thinking crostini, one my my favorite appetizers (So easy! So tasty! So versatile! So utensil-free! So photogenic!) Especially my Apple, Honey and Goat Cheese Crostini, one of my most popular Rosh Hashanah recipes every year!
Then I thought, what if I combined the two? All my favorite tzimmes flavors, on a crunchy baguette slice. And some goat cheese? Walnuts for crunch? Let’s do it!
I love how fast these came together, and you can prep all the ingredients ahead of time and just make them before serving. You can also get creative with the ingredients. Leave the beets out, swap goat cheese for cream cheese or dates for dried apricots.
Unlike tzimmes sometimes can be, these aren’t too sweet, just a drizzle of honey and dates for a light sweetness. And the veggies are roasted or sautéed, which gives everything a nice bite. These are the perfect mix of textures and flavors.
Honey, you will love them!
What Is Tzimmes?
Tzimmes is the sweet Ashkenazi stew of carrots, sweet potatoes and dried fruit, slow cooked until soft and syrupy. It is a fixture at Rosh Hashanah tables, and the word has come to mean a fuss in Yiddish, as in do not make a whole tzimmes out of it.
This version takes those flavors and turns them into an appetizer. Roasted carrots, sweet potatoes and beets tossed with dates, cinnamon and orange juice, spooned over goat cheese on toasted baguette and finished with honey and walnuts.
Why Tzimmes at Rosh Hashanah?
Carrots are the reason. In Yiddish they are meren, which also means to increase, so eating them expresses a hope that your merits multiply in the coming year. Sliced into rounds they also look like gold coins, symbolizing prosperity.
Add the sweetness of dates and sweet potato for a sweet new year, and tzimmes is about as Rosh Hashanah as a dish can be. Serving it as a crostini gets it onto the table during drinks rather than competing with the mains.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Baguette. Sliced into third inch pieces, which gives you 25 to 30 crostini.
- Carrots, sweet potatoes and beets. Small diced. Rainbow carrots make it prettier if you can find them.
- Dates. A quarter cup, small diced, for the dried fruit element of a classic tzimmes.
- Cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne. Warmth, plus optional heat to keep it from being purely sweet.
- Orange juice. A tablespoon and a half, to loosen the mixture and brighten it.
- Goat cheese. Four ounces, softened. Cream cheese works if you prefer something milder.
- Honey and walnuts. The finish, and both are holiday appropriate.
How to Make Tzimmes Crostini
- Toast the bread. Drizzle the slices with olive oil, salt and pepper and broil about a minute per side until brown. Watch them, they turn from golden to black quickly.
- Roast the vegetables. At 425 degrees F, in separate single layer piles on a lined sheet, for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and tender. Keeping them separate is what stops the beets staining everything.
- Mix. Combine the carrots and sweet potatoes with the dates, cinnamon, orange juice and cayenne, then fold in the beets last to minimize bleeding.
- Assemble. Spread goat cheese on each slice, spoon the vegetables over, drizzle with honey and scatter with walnuts.
Make Ahead
This is a good party appetizer precisely because the work is front loaded. Toast the bread a day ahead and keep it in an airtight container, and roast the vegetable mixture ahead as well.
Assemble right before serving, though. Goat cheese on toast holds for maybe half an hour before the bread starts to soften, and these are much better crisp. Set out the components and build them as guests arrive if you want them perfect.
Tips
- Roast the beets separately. This is the single most useful tip here. Beets bleed into everything they touch.
- Dice everything the same size. Otherwise the sweet potato turns to mush before the carrots are tender.
- Do not peel if you do not want to. Scrub well and cut into large cubes, then dice; the skins disappear once roasted.
- Soften the goat cheese first. Cold goat cheese tears the toast when you try to spread it.
- Season the bread. Salt and pepper on the baguette before broiling makes a real difference.
Tzimmes Crostini FAQ
What does tzimmes mean?
In cooking it is the sweet stew of carrots, sweet potato and dried fruit. Colloquially, in Yiddish, a tzimmes is a fuss or a big production, which tells you something about how long the traditional version takes to cook.
Why are carrots eaten at Rosh Hashanah?
The Yiddish for carrots, meren, also means to increase, so they are eaten with the hope that your merits and good fortune multiply. Cut into rounds they also resemble gold coins, another nod to prosperity.
Can I make these ahead of time?
The components, yes. Toast the bread a day ahead and roast the vegetables in advance. Assemble within half an hour of serving so the crostini stay crisp.
How do I keep the beets from staining everything?
Roast them in their own pile, separate from the carrots and sweet potatoes, and fold them into the mixture last, right before serving. You will still get a little pink, which is honestly quite pretty.
Can I make these vegan?
Yes. Use a plant based cream cheese or a thick cashew spread instead of goat cheese, and swap the honey for date syrup, which suits the tzimmes flavors especially well.
How many crostini per person?
Figure three to four each as an appetizer. This recipe makes 25 to 30, so it covers about eight people as part of a spread with other things on the table.
What else can I do with the tzimmes mixture?
It is excellent on its own as a warm side dish, spooned over grain salad, or piled onto challah toast for breakfast. Make a double batch and use half each way.
More holiday starters: apples, honey and goat cheese crostini, honey tahini yogurt dip, and the whole Rosh Hashanah menu.
Tzimmes Crostini
Ingredients
- 1 baguette sliced into 1/3 inch pieces (you'll get 25-30)
- olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 cup carrots, small diced (I used rainbow)
- 1 cup sweet potatoes, peeled and small diced
- 1/2 cup beets, small diced
- 1/4 cup dates, small diced
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch cayenne (optional)
- 1 1/2 tbsps orange juice
- 4 ounces goat cheese (or cream cheese), softened
- Honey
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to broiler setting.
- First, drizzle baguette slices with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Broil on a foil-lined baking sheet for about 1 minute per side until brown. Careful not to let them burn! Once the bread is ready, immediately rub on garlic to infuse with garlic flavor and set aside.
- Then pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place the diced carrots, sweet potatoes, and beets in separate single-layer piles on a lined baking sheet. (To dice, I don't even peel the veggies, but cut them into large cubes to cut the skin off. Then I cut into planks and dice to make even pieces.) Drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and toss each pile to combine but keep them separate.
- Roast for about 15-20 minutes until veggies are golden and tender. Let cool.
- Place carrots and sweet potatoes in a medium bowl and combine with dates, cinnamon and orange juice and cayenne if you like a little kick. Then toss in beets last to minimize color bleeding (but a little is pretty!)
- Spread a layer of goat cheese on each baguette slice, top with a spoon of the vegetable topping, the drizzle with honey and sprinkle with walnuts.
- You can toast the bread a day ahead of time, and also pre-roast the vegetable mixture, but assemble right before noshing!
4 Comments
What would be a substitute for the 1 cup of sweet potatoes??
Do you not like it or are allergic? How about butternut squash?
Sounds deli.sh!,,,
Thanks!