Say it with me now: Charred Sweet Pea & Mozzarella Crostini with Hot Honey. Rolls off the tongue so easy like, no?

These little dears are for the toast enthusiast. For the no-cook cook. For the lover of summer greens and cheesy things … yes, this simple, totally doable recipe is for you (and for me!). I live for un-recipes like this in the summer time, when the temps are high enough to make turning on any heat source almost unbearable. We want to be outside, doing outside things, right? A quick trip under a broiler and a fast toss in a hot skillet is all these things need to come together nicely and to taste extra special. We’re talking 5 minutes max here. I make iterations of these fetching little toasts (crostini, if you’re fancy) all the time, I truly do, and they never last very long in my house. I think sometimes the real trick to embracing simple, seasonal cooking is having a solid lineup of back-pocket recipes that you can lean on when you aren’t really on top of your game, creatively speaking. Sometimes, just coming up with what to make/cook/prepare is the hardest part of the gig.

These simple toasts constitute one of those aforementioned back-pocket recipes that I tend to call on time and time again. The method is simple and almost unworthy of even being called a recipe. It’s a collection of choose-your-own-adventure steps that unfold in the easiest of preparations. Amounts of things don’t matter – how long you even cook them depends on your preferences as well. If you like your fresh sweet peas crunchy and raw – don’t cook them. If you like them cooked to death (Southerners represent) then, char them up in a pan quickly and intensely until they’re smoky-blackened all over. That’s cool, too. Don’t like sweet peas? Try some shaved summer squash, a sprinkling of fresh, sweet corn, or some halved cherry tomatoes, if you please. You’re the bus driver here – you call the shots. No matter which road you take, though, it’s going to be delicious … and you’ll get there FAST. This is simply meant to supply you with an idea, an inspiration to take in any direction you choose. Sure, there’s a time and place for very specific, lengthy, descriptive recipes. I write those all the time, and I cook from those all the time. But more often than not, I find that THIS kind of recipe – the ultra casual no-recipe type – is really my go-to thing. It’s the ideas that I mostly seek, not the specifics of a line-item recipe. The ideas and inspirations are what really get my engines going when it comes the cooking I do on the regular. Thanks for the idea! I’ll take it from here … And as such, these simple, no-recipe “recipes” are my very favorite to stumble upon, and probably always will be.

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Charred Sweet Pea & Mozzarella Crostini with Hot Honey

Ingredients

• ½ baguette sliced into ½”-thick rounds
• Handful of fresh sweet peas some split, some not
• Some whole milk ricotta
• Handful of shredded mozzarella cheese plus a little extra for sprinkling (I like the Tillamook Farm Style shreds)
• Fresh green herbs of your choice roughly chopped (I like dill, parsley and fresh thyme)
• Runny honey about ½ cup
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• Dash of apple cider or white wine vinegar
• Crunchy sea salt for finishing

Instructions

1. Preheat your broiler and set your oven rack in the highest/top position. Arrange the bread slices on a baking sheet and broil for about a minute, just to toast them slightly (keep an eye on them, these can go fast). Set aside and keep the broiler on.

2. Throw the peas in/and their pods into a medium non-stick or cast-iron skillet set over medium-high heat. Allow them to char up and slightly blacken, tossing them occasionally (you don’t need oil or cooking fats for this). Remove from the heat and set aside. They will soften up and slump down a bit as they cool.

3. Meanwhile, combine the ricotta and shredded mozzarella in a small bowl.

4. To assemble the crostini: Shmear some of the cheese mixture onto each of your toasts. Top with some of the charred peas. Place back under the preheated broiler to allow the cheeses to melt and the peas to further brown. Transfer the toasts to a serving platter (if you like) and shower them with fresh chopped herbs and a sprinkling of crunchy sea salt. Drizzle with some of the hot honey, and enjoy.

For the hot honey:

1. Combine the honey, pepper flakes, and vinegar in a small bowl and stir to combine.