{"id":38354,"date":"2026-02-01T19:33:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T02:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/?p=38354"},"modified":"2026-02-16T19:37:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T02:37:53","slug":"caramelized-celery-and-mozzarella-crostini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/?p=38354","title":{"rendered":"Caramelized Celery and Mozzarella Crostini"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-38355\" src=\"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Caramelized-Celery-Crostini.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Caramelized-Celery-Crostini.jpg 500w, https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Caramelized-Celery-Crostini-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Caramelized-Celery-Crostini-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Caramelized-Celery-Crostini-405x270.jpg 405w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/>Caramelized Celery and Mozzarella Crostini<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>2 T. unsalted butter<\/p>\n<p>6 stalks of celery, thinly sliced (1\/8-inch diagonal slices)<\/p>\n<p>Salt, to taste<\/p>\n<p>1 T. sugar<\/p>\n<p>1\/4 cup aged balsamic vinegar<\/p>\n<p>4 slices of crusty bread, like ciabatta<\/p>\n<p>Extra-virgin olive oil<\/p>\n<p>6 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced (about 1\/8- to 1\/4-inch thick)<\/p>\n<p>1 T. fresh snipped chives<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Heat a large frying pan over medium-low heat (almost medium). Add butter. When melted, add celery, salt and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the celery is soft, olive green and slightly browned around the edges, about 40-45 minutes. Moderate heat to make sure celery does not cook too fast. Remove celery from pan. Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. Add balsamic vinegar and cook until reduced by about half. Set pan aside to cool slightly. Preheat oven broiler with rack about 5 inches from broiler. Place slices of bread on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Place under the broiler and cook until lightly toasted, about a minute or so (watch carefully or it will burn). Spread 1\/4 of the cooked celery on top of each piece of toast, then top with a couple slices of mozzarella. Place under broiler and broil for about a minute until the cheese has melted a bit. Remove from oven and transfer toasts to a serving platter. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with chives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Caramelized Celery and Mozzarella Crostini &nbsp; 2 T. unsalted butter 6 stalks of celery, thinly sliced (1\/8-inch diagonal slices) Salt, to taste 1 T. sugar 1\/4 cup aged balsamic vinegar 4 slices of crusty bread, like ciabatta Extra-virgin olive oil 6 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced (about 1\/8- to 1\/4-inch thick) 1 T. fresh snipped chives &nbsp; Heat a large frying pan over medium-low heat (almost medium). Add butter. When melted, add celery, salt and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/?p=38354\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[122,174],"class_list":["post-38354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appetizers-snacks","tag-cheese","tag-toast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38354"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38356,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38354\/revisions\/38356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/recipes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}