One of the restaurants I used to frequent in Chicago was Cafe Iberico. The waits were long, sometimes horrendously so, but that was because the tapas were generously-sized and mostly priced between $3 to $5.
The restaurant had a small plate of queso de cabra (Spanish baked goat cheese with fresh tomato basil sauce). The dish only had a few slices of goat cheese though so I've adapted this version to bake the whole goat cheese log. Plenty enough for a party.
I didn't have time to have this with pesto and tomato sauce, so just pesto had to do, but you can certainly add it if you wish. I had blogged the recipe before, but it was added after my recipe for Insalata Caprese (Italian Basil, Mozzarella, and Tomato Salad) so I decided to give the baked goat cheese its own post.
Baked Goat Cheese with Pesto and Tomato Sauce
1 8-oz log goat cheese
1 8-oz can tomato, marinara, or spaghetti sauce
Pesto
Pour tomato sauce into bottom of pan. Pour pesto into the middle. Top with goat cheese.
Cover with foil. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes for goat cheese to soften.
Serve with toasted baguette slices.
And a revisit to December 2006 when I first blogged this recipe.
Eek! Yeah, new photo needed for sure. Still, it was a big hit back then. Previous commentary below.
The ideal slice includes a little bit of tomato sauce, a little bit of pesto, a little bit of goat cheese all smeared together. The pesto and tomato sauce tempers the flavor of goat cheese, which can be overpowering for some people.
This was quite a hit. When we went through two loaves of baguettes, we switched to Middle Eastern flatbread and it was still good.
Enjoy!
Hopefully this will tide you over, as it did my guests, while I quickly assembled the rest of our dinner.
Other recipes served at this meal:
Sup Ca Chua Dau Xanh (Vietnamese Green Bean and Tomato Egg Drop Soup)
Bo Nuong La Lot (Vietnamese Grilled Beef with Wild Betel Leaves)
Nem Nuong Xa (Vietnamese Lemongrass Grilled Pork Patties)
Nai Luc Lac (Vietnamese Shaking Venison)
*****
1 year ago today, apple butter from Open Mouth, Insert Fork.
2 years ago today, best of 2007 recipes from ca phe sua da (Vietnamese iced milk coffee) to Cuban lemon roast chicken.
3 years ago today, I was in awe of the pizza tossing at Lanesplitter Pizza and Pub - Berkeley.
YUM!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWOW. im a foodie and this just adds a little "pazazz" to my bland bruschetta recipe.
Interesting! I have not had goat cheese in such a large log before.
ReplyDeleteThis time, I do agree that the old photo was not as good due to the white balance setting and lack of light.
I loved this.
ReplyDeleteI also love looking at my old photos. They make me laugh out loud.
I definitely have to try to make this recipe sometime. It looks soo delicious!
ReplyDeleteDivine Bunny,
ReplyDeleteI've done crostinis where I just had various kinds of spreads like this and bruschetta and let people pile on their own. They're great as appetizers for parties.
ETE,
The old photos are always horrible! I laugh when I see them!
Weezer Monkey,
And yet we still kept blogging away anyway!
Diana,
It's very simple too.
Delicious! I just tried your recipe and my whole family loved it. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJean,
ReplyDeleteWow! That was quick! So glad to know your whole family liked it.