“Goat Toasties”

Hungry and looking for a quick snack idea? Want to make a tasty and easy starter? Goat cheese toasties are one of my favorites — it’s a variation on bruschetta that is tangy and flavorful. These are also great paired with tomato soup!

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:

  • Crusty baguette
  • Olive oil
  • Goat cheese crumbles
  • Roasted garlic (enough to smear toasted bread before covering with goat cheese and melting the cheese)
  • Sprinkle of paprika
  • Pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions:

  • Slice baguette into 1/2″ slices
  • Brush with olive oil (mix pepper and paprka into oil before applying to bread)
  • Toast bread at 350 degrees until golden brown; be careful to keep an eye on the bread–it can easily burn if left unattended!
  • Remove bread from the oven and smear rounds with a thin layer of roasted garlic
  • Cover the rounds with a generous layer of goat cheese crumbles
  • Place bread back into the oven until the goat cheese is toasted and slightly browned; this should take about 10 minutes
  • If desired, garnish with a thin strip of pimento, or sundried tomato (use the type packed in oil)

Note: Roasted garlic is easy to do and this recipe assumes that you have some on hand. Simply take several heads of garlic and slice off the top third–or pre-peeled cloves–drizzle with oil, place in covered, oven safe baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes, until the garlic is easily mashed. I keep roasted garlic on hand for use in recipes; it gives a much richer taste than fresh garlic in recipes and keeps well if kept in a sealed container