Tartines: French open faced sandwiches

For my French Cocktail Hour party, I prepared the following recipes. Tartines are open faced sandwiches that are simple to prepare yet elegant even for guests. I learned about Tartines when I visited France a few years ago and I loved how delicious even a simple sandwich can be. For my menu, I chose to make four different kinds of tartines that would appeal to all my guests.

Tartin Corner

Tartines are all prepared similarly. To start, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Taking large slices of bread (I used a sliced sourdough boule), lightly butter one side of each slice and lay them on a baking sheet. Toast the bread in the preheated oven until they barely start to brown. Remove them from the oven and top the slices with any of the following or use whatever you have on hand to create a sandwich! After you've topped your slice, bake it again in the oven to heat up your toppings and melt any cheese you've added. Slice your tartine into pieces and Viola! Your tartine is ready to enjoy!

mozzarella, tomato & basil

(top toasted bread with tomato slices, top with slices of fresh mozzarella and garnish with fresh basil leaves)

ham & swiss

(top toasted bread with slices of deli ham, a little dijon mustard and sliced swiss cheese)

chicken pesto

(top toasted bread with a mixture of shredded or chopped cooked chicken breast and homemade pesto, then top with shredded italian cheese)

smoked salmon, dill & cucumber

(top toasted bread with a mixture of cream cheese, dill and garlic salt, some flaked salmon and top with slices of cucumber)