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We have just wrapped a few weeks of family visits, and it was, as always, a blast!
My Mom was here for a couple weeks, and though we were sorry that my Dad didn’t feel up to it, we were glad that she was able to come. It was her first time seeing her latest great grandchild, Evelyn, and it has been a few years since she was able to see Mark & Anna, so they are like whole new people almost. And in addition to Mom, both the girls and their families, my sister and brother in law were also able to get away for a long weekend.
Our house is beginning to feel the strain when we have a lot of company these days – we have to expand the sleeping arrangements to include a tent, and fortunately, my sister and her husband have a camper. It is a little snug just the same – good thing we all like each other! It was a lot of fun.
Anyway – I mention all that, because one evening my sister made one of her favorite appetizers for us – a goat cheese spread with sun dried tomatoes. It is so tasty, and we always enjoy it.
It got me thinking though. Here I am with a gallon pail filled to the brim with huge beautiful grape tomatoes – I don’t really need to go and buy sun dried tomatoes. And I have a bunch of fresh garlic and rosemary. I knew I could recreate this tasty treat with what I had on hand.
I had some nice creamy goat cheese already, so a week or so later, I got to work. It is an incredibly simple combination of ingredients, and once the tomatoes and garlic are roasted and cooled, it takes just a few minutes to get ready.
You are even going to end up with a nice supply of really tasty roasted tomatoes that will be great on pasta, on a grilled cheese sandwich or a salad. You can roast just a enough for the spread, but if I am going to fire up my oven for an hour, I want to make full use of it – I made a whole sheet pan of tomatoes and garlic!
Goat Cheese Spread with Tomatoes
Ingredients
- about 25 large grape or small plum tomatoes
- 2 to 4 garlic cloves - do not peel
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- kosher salt freshly ground pepper
- a few springs of fresh rosemary [these will be discarded after roasting the tomatoes and they are optional]
- 8 ounces of goat cheese at room temperature
- about 1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Set the oven to 400º.
- Line a large, heavy baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice the tomatoes in half the long way, and place cut side up on the sheet pan.
- Scatter the garlic cloves around the pan, along with the first amount of rosemary.
- Drizzle the vegetable with the olive oil, and season with the salt and pepper.
- Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes, turn the tomatoes over and roast another 20 minutes.
- Allow the tomatoes to cool on the pan, until they are cool enough to handle.
- Remove the skins from the tomatoes and discard - this is a little fiddly to do, but mostly they should slip right off, once you get an edge started. This is also optional - you can leave the skins on if you like the texture.
- Cut once end from the garlic cloves, and squeeze out the roasted clove inside, keeping it as intact as possible. Discard the rosemary.
- At this point, you can place the peeled tomatoes and the garlic cloves, along with the oil on the sheet pan in a glass dish, and store in the fridge for up to a week.
- When you are ready to make the spread, have all the ingredients at room temperature,
- Use a fork to mash up the cheese, in a shallow dish, then mash the roasted garlic into the cheese. Use a couple cloves at first and taste to see if that is enough - you can always add more later, but you can't take it out if you get too much in there.
- Mince up about 10 of the tomato halves, and blend into the cheese and garlic,
- Mix in the rosemary.
- Taste, and season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Pack into a ramekin or other serving dish. You can sprinkle the top with a bit more minced rosemary if you like, and an additional drizzle of olive oil is nice as well.
- Serve at room temperature, with crostini, crackers, toasted pitas or fresh veggies.
- Refrigerate leftovers, but bring back to room temperature to serve.
Pretty darned amazing stuff.
Simple, fresh and so good!
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Looks yummy! I like the sound of the freshly roasted tomatoes. Will have to try this!
You will love it & thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Hi Donalyn:)
What a great idea to make a spread from those roasted tomatoes. I roasted and froze a bunch the last couple of weeks. I only wish I would have roasted smaller quanities. I did “throw” in some small batchs in cubes though so there is hope, lol…
I smiled to myself when you said about having a house full of company. Marion is expecting company up in a few weeks and she told them they better bring sleeping bags or a camper, lol…
Thanks for sharing, Donalyn….
I do the same Louise, and those little frozen gems are such a treat in the winter – we love them especially on pizza! And I love having a houseful of people!
Mmmmm – using roasted tomatoes in your goat cheese spread sounds really delicious! Great idea!
Thanks Amy – it is a pretty great flavor combo!
Your goat cheese spread looks amazing! I love being inspired with recipes from my friends and family and this looks like a keeper…especially with your homemade sun dried tomatoes 🙂
Me too Liz & my family is always a great source of inspiration!
Sounds like it was a full house! Lovely recipe, adore goat cheese!
It was Evelyne – so much fun!
I would eat the dip spoonful! The dip looks fantastic, Donalyn.
LOL – that is an incredible temptation Angie!
I love goat cheese and I love roast tomatoes. So you know where this is going, right? Yup, I’d love this! 😉 Great dish. And it’s nice to be back from vacation and reading your blog again!
Welcome back, John – so good to see you again 🙂
YUM, I love cheesy spreads! This looks like a super classy recipe 😀
Beautiful colour too!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks CCU – glad you like it 🙂
This looks really good!
Thanks so much Linda – I hope you get the chance to ry it!
That looks like a fantastic dip! And with home made sun dried tomatoes no less! 😀
Your spreads sounds delicious. I love the combination of goat cheese and roasted tomatoes.
This is such a nice spread…like the roasted tomatoes…beautiful color!
Hope you are having a great week Donalyn 😀
I can see the whole clan scooping this up. Well maybe not the baby. GREG
Oh YUM!!! I still have some fresh tomatoes in the garden and feta in the fridge. This looks like lunch tomorrow!
This looks delicious. I just want to make sure I’ve got this right. The 25 tomatoes in the ingredients list is to provide extras, and you really only need 5 grape tomatoes? You said 10 halves (5 tomatoes). Just want to make sure! I can’t wait to try it.
Caitlin – that is correct – some people like to use more tomatoes, or just have some to scoop up along with the spread, but the basic recipe calls for just the 10 halves. Hope you enjoy the recipe!