Fresh Mozzarella and Roasted Kohlrabi Crostini

We have been getting our CSA share for three weeks now, and each week we have gotten kohlrabi (German turnip).  Having never seen this veggie before both Nick and I were at a bit of a loss as to what to do with it!  While we have read that you can eat it raw (and tried it, in coleslaw) we wanted to do something a bit more with it.  Nick looked around on Gojee and found a recipe that sounded too good not to try!

Kohlrabi - so Bizarre!

Roasted Kohlrabi and Crostini:

• 2-3 medium kohlrabi
• extra virgin olive oil, for rubbing
• 1/2 sourdough baguette, sliced into 12 1/2" rounds

To start, Nick cleaned the kohlrabi by removing the stems, leaves and fibrous root ends, rubbed them generously with with olive oil, wrapped them in foil and roasted them in the oven at 400 degrees. Though the recipe said this should take about 40 minutes, it actually ended up being more like 80! It took a while for the kohlrabi to be easily pierced with a fork. Maybe we just had really large kohlrabi?

Roasted Kohlrabi

Since this is typically supposed to be a appetizer, they suggest using a french loaf to make crostinis.  However, seeing how large the slices of kohlrabi were going to be, Nick actually bought a loaf of ciabatta and cut it up into larger squares.  The bread went onto a cookie sheet and into the oven until golden brown on both sides.

Herb Paste, Toppings, and Assembly:

• 2 shallots, sliced thinly
• olive oil for frying
• toasted crostini rounds
• 1 large garlic clove, for rubbing
• 8 leaves fresh basil
• 8 leaves fresh rosemary
• 4 sprigs fresh parsley, stems removed
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil for forming paste, plus more for drizzling
• 2-3 roasted kohlrabi, sliced 1/4" thick
• 8 ounces ball fresh mozzarella, sliced into 1/4" thick rounds

Nick sauteed the shallots in olive oil, stirring often cooked through, about 5 minutes. I think the recipe actually wanted you to use more oil and almost deep-fry the shallots until they were crispy. Nicely browned were just fine for us.

Roasted Shallots

For the the herb spread, Nick chopped the herbs finely with a pinch of sea salt and added olive oil to form a paste.  The ciabatta crostini didn't really lend themselves to being rubbed with garlic, so instead Nick added a bit of garlic powder to this herb mixture.

Herb Paste

The herb paste then went on the toast...

On the crostini

and was then topped with the slices of kohlrabi and fresh mozzarella rounds.

Ready for the oven

He placed the crostini under the broiler until mozzarella was nice and melted.

Roasted and Bubbling Cheese

To finish, he topped each mozzarella round with the cooked shallots and drizzled with a bit of olive oil.  Nick also roasted some yummy asparagus to boot!

Awesome dinner!

I really liked this dish - it was completely different than anything else I have had.  Kohlrabi, when roasted, has a bit of a broccoli texture and taste, but is sweeter (the guy to runs our CSA program describes it as "like cabbage, but with notes of apple.")  The meat of the kohlrabi is really hearty and makes you forget there is no meat protein in the dish.  To make the dish even better - fresh mozzarella!  That adds so much to any dish, in my opinion.  I loved the texture and the consistency, and it went so well with the kohlrabi and the crunch of the crostini.  Overall a really delicious dish!

This week we got some more kohlrabi - what else can we do with it?  Anyone have some suggestions?