Marinated Goat Cheese Spread Dip Recipes

BAKED GOAT CHEESE DIP

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Combine the goat cheese, cream cheese, parmesan and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a food processor and season with pepper; puree until smooth. Brush a 1-quart baking dish with olive oil, then spread the cheese mixture in the dish, mounding it slightly higher around the edge than in the middle. Bake until golden and heated through, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, chives, vinegar, garlic, the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Spoon the tomato mixture on top of the dip. Serve with baguette slices.

HERBED GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• Find a small, wide-mouth canning jar or small glass vase (3 1/2 inches in diameter by 4 inches high), just large enough to hold the two goat cheeses on top of each other with a little room to spare. Cut each cheese in half horizontally, making 2 rounds from each. (A piece of dental floss makes this easier.)
• Place half of the first disk flat in the jar, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then with 1/2 teaspoon dill, 1 teaspoon basil, and a few red pepper flakes, and drizzle with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil. Place another disk of cheese on top and repeat the seasonings, herbs, and oil. Continue with the remaining cheese disks, piling one on top of the other with oil and seasonings in between. When all the disks are stacked and seasoned, drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top. Cover and set aside at room temperature for one hour or refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Serve at room temperature with bread or crackers for people to help themselves.

MARINATED GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• Place the peppercorns, garlic cloves and bay leaves in a clean, sterilized wide-mouthed jar. Pour in a film of olive oil.
• Cut the goat cheese into rounds 1/2 inch thick (I get neat rounds using unflavored dental floss to cut through the cheese). Place one round in the jar and drizzle on some olive oil. Stack the remaining rounds, drizzling oil onto each round before topping with the next. Add the thyme and rosemary sprigs to the jar and pour in olive oil to cover the goat cheese rounds completely. Cover the jar and leave at room temperature for several hours, then refrigerate.

SPICED GOAT'S CHEESE DIP

Steps:

• Put the seeds and nuts in a frying pan, then gently heat to toast them, removing them from the heat when the seeds start to pop and give off their aroma. Grind fairly coarsely using a pestle and mortar, then season with a little salt.
• Beat the goat's cheese with the milk to soften it, then add a little seasoning if needed. Tip half into a small bowl (glass, if you have one, to show off the layers) and scatter with half the seeds and a few torn mint leaves. Repeat the layer and serve with a bowl of cold radishes and toasted pittas or bread.

SOUTHERN MEDITERRANEAN GOAT CHEESE SPREAD OR DIP

Steps:

• In a medium bowl crumble goat cheese. Meanwhile in a small chilled bowl, whip cream until thickened only and stir into goat cheese.
• Stir in herbs, shallot, lemon peel, and garlic. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Thin with additional cream, if desired. Serve on toasted pita wedges, Syrian bread or anything you wish.
• * 1/4 cup in total. Mix the herb amounts to your preference but you might want to make the parsley the main herb with smaller amounts of the remaining 3.