Tangy, creamy goat cheese is baked in a rich & flavorful tomato sauce and served with crostini - one of my favorite tapas dishes!
Ordering goat cheese baked in tomato sauce is always one of my FAVORITE things to do at a tapas restaurant. I am so in love with this combination; the goat cheese is tangy & creamy and gets soft & spreadable in the oven, the tomato sauce is bursting with flavor and cuts through the richness of the goat cheese for a deliciously balanced dish.
Oddly enough though, we didn't see it on the menu at any of the restaurants we ate at in Spain. I started to wonder if it was something we just made up here in the US, but you search for the recipe online - sure enough you can find references to "Queso De Cabra Con Tomate," as a classic dish...so maybe we just weren't in the right regions?
Luckily, you don't have to go to Spain (or even a tapas restaurant!) to enjoy this yummy dish...it's so simple to make it right at home. Which is a good thing because we have yet to find a Spanish tapas restaurant close to where we live now (and we're having some serious withdrawals).
Just sauté up some diced onion & garlic in a little bit of olive oil, add some fire roasted crushed tomatoes & spices and simmer for a little while to meld all the flavors. Add some goat cheese, bake it all together until bubbling hot and serve with crostini - and you're done!
I promise I'll have a dedicated post to all of our Spanish culinary adventures one day. Until then, try this pan con tomate (seriously I could eat it every day) and, if you're a bit more daring, these blistered shishito peppers.
Yummy noises await you!
Goat Cheese Baked in Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 14 oz fire roasted crushed tomatoes
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
- 3 oz goat cheese
- ½ large french baguette (about 16 half-inch slices)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan/pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent & slightly softened, about 6-8 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper & crushed red pepper flakes and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While the sauce simmers, preheat the broiler and slice the baguette into half inch slices on a diagonal. Lightly drizzle, spray or brush both sides with olive oil. Arrange on a baking sheet and broil until golden brown on both sides - about 2-3 minutes on the first side and 30 seconds on the second side. (Note: These times are estimated based on my broiler, but broilers vary widely so keep an eye on the crostini the whole time you're toasting the bread - it can go from perfectly golden to burnt in a matter of seconds!) When the crostini is finished, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- When the sauce has finished simmering, transfer it to an oven safe ramekin or small baking dish. Slice the goat cheese into 3 pieces and nestle the pieces down into the center of the sauce. Bake on a foil-lined baking sheet for 15 minutes, until sauce is bubbling and goat cheese is warm, softened and slightly brown on top. Allow to cool slightly and serve with crostini!
Notes
I absolutely love goats cheese. I became a fan in Germany where I tried grilled goats cheese at a restaurant. This recipe for baked goats cheese in tomato sauce look so good. definitely trying this super soon.
Ooo grilled goat cheese sounds delicious! Hope you enjoy this recipe, we loved it!!