Antipasti of Mozzarella, Chilli and Lemon Crostini

This is supposed to be a starter but I found it really filling so would recommend it as a slightly fancy snack instead.

Ciabatta bread
1 clove of garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Buffalo mozzarella
Salt and black pepper
1 red chilli
Basil
Lemon zest

Before you start deseed the chilli and slice it very, very thin. It’s a quick recipe so you may as well faff around with that first rather than half way through making it. I’ll admit I cheated as the note on the chilli that said ‘DO NOT HANDLE WITHOUT GLOVES’ scared me. Rather than using the fresh stuff - and risk doing something idiotic like rubbing my eyes - I threw a load of dried chilli seeds in the olive oil and let them sit in there for a bit instead.

You need to heat a griddle pan – which I actually have for once – as hot as you can and dunk however many slices of cibatta you want in it for a minute or two each side until they’ve charred slightly.

Cut the garlic clove in half and rub each slice of ciabatta with it before drizzling them with some olive oil. Place some torn mozzarella on each and add as much salt and pepper as you like. Now artily sprinkle over the chilli, basil and lemon zest and a tiny bit more olive oil. Done!