Warm Goat Cheese Skillet
This will make you popular.
It will also make all the other dips at the party look bad.
This addictive dip is SO EASY to put together.
There are a couple of MUST KNOW tips when it comes to serving goat cheese warm.
You see, raw, homemade goat cheese does funky things when exposed to heat for longer than 5 minutes. If you bake homemade goat cheese you will have a dish that no longer contains cheese – it will be a dish of whey with warm gritty bits of tough curds. I am not entirely sure what scientific process is happening to the cheese in the oven, but it is bad.
Google didn’t know either.
And I have not yet heard Alton Brown talk about it.
Wierd. Raw food does weird things.
I can not speak for the goat cheese sold at stores, as I do not have any of that in my possession.
So I am going to tell you the sure-fire way to serve goat cheese warm (if it is homemade) so that it is warm and creamy.
It all begins with bruschetta topping
You can purchase your bruschetta topping, or you can make it.
I make mine and it is to die for.
The reason I set out to make bruschetta in the first place was so I could make this “Warm Goat Cheese Skillet.”
I took one gander at the ingredients (and the price) of store-bought bruschetta and decided that I could make it myself.
Grab a big baking pan.
Cut the top off the tomatoes and set them on the pan. If they are especially large tomatoes, cut them in half.
Cut the tops & ends off the onions, remove the outer peel, and cut them in half.
Cut the ends off each clove of garlic (so the garlic clove can be seen) but don’t peel them break up the bulb and sprinkle the cloves around the pan.
Drizzle the veggies with plenty of olive oil. Salt liberally and then top them all with fresh thyme and rosemary.
Roast veggies in a 375-degree oven for 2 hours. Let the veggies cool.
Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their wrappers and into a small bowl. Add the roasted tomatoes and onions.
Use a fork and knife to easily dice this up into a lovely tomato-garlic spread/topping.
Taste and season with a little salt if needed.
Bruschetta is done!
To Make the Warm Goat Cheese Skillet
Pour 1 cup of the bruschetta topping in the bottom of the skillet.
Bake in a 400-degree oven until piping hot (10-15 minutes).
Use the back of a spoon to hollow out a hole in the center of the skillet to set the cheese into.
Use clean hands to pat the goat cheese into a round patty. Just like you are shaping a burger.
Place the cheese in the center of the bruschetta sauce.
Turn your oven on BROIL as HIGH as it will go.
It is important that you broil the top of the goat cheese, but not bake it.
Broil the dip for 3 minutes. It should be just beginning to brown.
Top with fresh basil. Serve immediately with sliced pita.
Beyond Delicious!
XO,
Candi
| Servings |
servings
|
- 8-10 tomatoes whole, tops removed
- 3 red onions
- 1 bulb garlic cut off end to expose cloves
- rosemary I use fresh
- thyme I use fresh
- olive oil
- Salt the big flaky kind
- 1 tube goat cheese or 8 oz homemade
- Pita for serving
Ingredients
|
|
To make the Bruschetta:
Grab a big baking pan. Cut the top off the tomatoes and set them on the pan. If they are especially large tomatoes, cut them in half.
Cut the tops & ends off the onions, remove the outer peel, and cut them in half. Cut the ends off each clove of garlic (so the garlic clove can be seen) but don't peel them break up the bulb and sprinkle the cloves around the pan.
Drizzle the veggies with plenty of olive oil. Salt liberally and then top them all with fresh thyme and rosemary.
Roast veggies in a 375-degree oven for 2 hours. Let the veggies cool.
Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their wrappers and into a small bowl. Add the roasted tomatoes and onions.
Use a fork and knife to easily dice this up into a lovely tomato-garlic spread/topping.
Taste and season with a little salt if needed.
To make the Dip:
Pour 1 cup of the bruschetta topping in the bottom of the skillet.
Bake in a 400-degree oven until piping hot (10-15 minutes).
Use the back of a spoon to hollow out a hole in the center of the skillet to set the cheese into.
Use clean hands to pat the goat cheese into a round patty.
Place the cheese in the center of the bruschetta sauce.
Turn your oven on BROIL as HIGH as it will go. Broil the dip for 3 minutes. It should be just beginning to brown.
Top with fresh basil. Serve immediately with sliced pita.
