Crostini with Wine & Vanilla Infused Apricots and Goat Cheese

I'm absolutely obsessed with this little concoction. So obsessed, in fact, that I've made it three times in the last week. Once for a catering event, once for a dinner party with friends and once last night for our Sunday family dinner.

Inspired yet again by my most favorite cookbook in years, Seasons in the Wine Country, this is a wonderful thing to throw together and bring along with a bottle of dry white wine to your friends' house to spread some holiday cheer.

The original recipe calls for fresh apricots, but since those babies are out of season, I went with "fancy" dried apricots and added a little bit of apricot marmalade to the mix to sweeten it up a bit. The original also calls for Humboldt Fog goat cheese {which is absolutely divine if you haven't had it} but if you can't find it {or don't want to splurge}, a regular log of plain goat cheese will do the trick.

Serve it up with some freshly baked crostini and your tastebuds will be doing backflips!

Ingredients:

10-12 dried apricot halves
1 1/4 cups dry white wine {I used pinot grigio}
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste {if you don't have this, substitute regular vanilla extract, but get some paste next time you see it}
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup apricot preserves

soft goat cheese of your choice

1 artisan baguette, sliced thin on an angle
olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees on Convection Bake setting.

Lay baguette slices on a large rimmed baking sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Toast bread slices for about 10-12 minutes until they are golden brown along the edges, then remove from oven and allow to cool.

In a saucepan over medium heat, add the apricots, wine, vanilla bean paste and sugar.

Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to low.

Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until apricots begin to soften and break down. Use a masher, fork or back of a spoon to help break down the apricots.