Restaurant Recipes
Cucina! Cucina! Baked Goat Cheese
Yield: 6 appetizer servings
Ingredients
- 3 ounces goat cheese (3/4 cup)
- 2 tablespoons fine bread crumbs
- 2 teaspoons pine nuts, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 baguette
Instructions
- Form goat cheese into a 3-inch disc.
- Combine bread crumbs and chopped pine nuts
in a small dish. Pat bread crumb mixture evenly onto goat cheese disc and set aside.
- To caramelize garlic, heat 4 tablespoons of the olive oil in a small saute pan over medium-low heat.
- Add peeled garlic cloves and cook slowly until garlic changes color to a light golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Remove garlic from oil and set aside. Reserve olive oil.
- To make crostinis, heat oven to 300 degrees F.
- Slice baguette in 1/4 inch thick pieces at an angle, about 4 inches long. Take the reserved garlic olive oil and brush both sides of each bread slice with it. Place the crostinis on a cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until light brown. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.
- Increase oven heat to 400 degrees F and place goat cheese on a cookie sheet. Bake for 3 to 4 minutes, or until bread crumbs turn a light golden color and cheese begins to puff.
- Sprinkle caramelized garlic over baked goat cheese and drizzle remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil on top.
- Serve on a large plate surrounded by crostinis.
Attribution
Cucina! Cucina! Italian Cafe, Phoenix, Arizona