When I think about which cheeses that I have in my fridge the most often, goat cheese is definitely up there and I am always looking for new way to enjoy some. Not too long ago I came across this recipe for a baked goat cheese marinara on Culinary Cory that sounded so good that I just had to make it right away! You just cannot go wrong baking cheese until it is nice and warm and melty and I liked the sound of baking it in a tasty marinara sauce . For the marinara sauce I made a simple and yet tasty one with kalamata olives (see below). Once you have the marinara sauce this dish is as simple as toasting some bread and baking the sauce with the cheese floating on top. I did however take one extra step and rubbed some fresh garlic onto the baguette after toasting it.
This baked goat cheese marinara is so good! I could easily have finished the whole thing all by myself in one sitting! Although the goat cheese retained its shape after broiling it quickly melted into the sauce as you pressed into it with your bread creating a really tasty combination of sauce and melted goat cheese…mmm… I was also impressed at how amazingly good the toasted baguette was made by the simple act of rubbing some garlic onto it and it added rather beautifully to the flavour medley.
Marinara sauces are pretty easy to make and I have been making my own for a while now. In their simplest form a marinara sauce is tomato based sauce with olive oil, garlic and herbs. I often like to add onions, carrots and celery for some more vegetable goodness and I often toss in other various things depending on what I feel like at the moment. Given that his dish was so simple with just the sauce and the goat cheese I wanted a savoury sauce that was simple and yet tasty. The carrots add a sweetness to a marinara so they were out and I did not have the celery on hand so that was out too. I had been wanting to try adding kalamata olives to a marinara sauce and I was sure that the sauce would be nice and tasty with just them in. After I made the marinara sauce I pureed it a bit to make it smoother as I figured it would be easier to scoop up with the bread that way.
Baked Goat Cheese Marinara
ingredients
- 1 baguette (sliced)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce (see below)
- 4 ounces goat cheese (sliced)
directions
- Brush the baguette slices with olive oil.
- Broil the slices until golden brown on top. (Note: Watch them carefully as they can burn really quickly on broil.)
- Let the baguette slices cool and then rub them with the garlic.
- Place the marinara sauce in a baking dish and top with the goat cheese.
- Broil until the goat cheese is soft and golden brown, about 4-6 minutes.
Kalamata Olive Marinara
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion (chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 1/2 cup red wine (optional)
- 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup kalamata olives (pitted and chopped)
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian herb blend
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 handful basil (chopped)
directions
- Heat the oil in a pan.
- Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the wine and deglaze the pan.
- Add the tomatoes, kalamata olives, Italian herbs, bay leaf, salt and pepper and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 30 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the basil.
- Puree to the desired consistency. (optional)
OMG! This sounds heavenly! I always have some marinara in my freezer! This is gonna become my go to appetizer!
I'm so thrilled to see you tried my baked goat cheese marinara! Your pictures look SOOOO good with the beautiful color on your goat cheese. This totally made my day.
I too love goat cheese! And having it melted with marinera sauce on some nice French bread looks really good. Once we are settled from this move we'll have to give it a try.
What a fabulous dish! This would be perfect as an appetizer or main dish on a weeknight.
Oh my, yes. I could so go for this right now.
Ohhhh woowwww this looks amazing!!!!!! I love goat cheese and this is a great way to cook with it!.. I just bumped into your blog and it's amazing!!!
… yeah. That looks awesome.
OOOOOOH That looks delicious! I want to have a party just to make this dish!
I'm having a VERY dopey day and I thought you meant "baked goat, cheese marinara" when I read the post title, and was confused about how you could get baked goat, cheese and marinara to go well together. Goat cheese is one of my favourite things too! I need a nap…
Oh and this looks delicious 🙂
This dish looks absolutely delicious. I'm looking forward to creating the marinara sauce from scratch too.
Kevin, I'm pretty sure you made this for me, at the risk of sounding totally egoistic. I adore goat cheese, and I've had a jar of olives in my pantry since forever!
Kevin, I am sad to say, that I will have to stop coming to this site…………………………………………………………………………………………………every time I come, I gain a few pounds and my shopping list grows longer…both very bad at the moment!!!
Oooh I want that now (6.30am) lol it looks soooo good!
Tienen una pinta para chuparse los dedos. Excelente receta. Gracias y un saludo
I love goat cheese and your dish looks amazing!!
The perfect combination! A mouthwatering dish! I love those shots.
Cheers,
Rosa
This sounds lovely! I'll take any excuse to eat chunks of cheese for dinner though.
oh good god I need to make this asap!
Goat cheese is one of my absolute favorite cheeses, and this recipe sounds fantastic! I'll definitely be trying this.
I love goat cheese. This is such a lovely way to serve goat cheese. I would love to try it.
Oh that sounds so GOOD!
This is a must try Kevin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh Kevin, you just know how it's done! This looks so good and rustic too. Rustic food is always the best in my book.
I love this recipe for the simple ingredients that I know are perfect together. Great job Kevin!
OMG this is incredible.For me..Marinara always connects to pasta…cudnt have thot abt this one….looks fabulous.I love goat cheese!
oh my! so simple, quick and good! love sauce and goat cheese, what a great simple idea!
WOW! What a GREAT idea! I love the flavor combos, the kalmata marinara especially and the casual deliciousness of the presentation! yum!
What a great idea. I can see this kind of thing served family style where everyone just grabs the bread and digs in. Would also make a nice lunch. Fantastic idea.
I love your blog as usual and great post looks delish
femmeennoir.blogspot.com
It must be really delicious! I love goat cheese (thought the beginnings of this love were pretty difficult) and will defnitely try it!
This looks delicious especially with that crusty bread being dipped in.
Such comfort food.
Couldn't agree more about the goat cheese! I just used it – breaded and baked for on a salad!!
http://foodtherapy4me.blogspot.com/2010/02/paprika-chicken.html
That is lush Kevin!
I love the slightly purple-red color of this marinara sauce! This would be great for a more formal party or a really casual night with friends (especially a game night!)
Incredible – This combination is over the top!! I love goat cheese and well add bread and marinara to it and does not get much better. Oh and of course pair this with a great bottle of vino!!
OMG! I'm am totally kicking myself for allowing my fridge to run out of goat cheese. I always have goat cheese.
What a fantastically simple and elegant dish!! awesome!
Another great recipe. I love goat cheese and it would be great in this recipe.
Oh mercy. This is just a little bit of heaven. 🙂 So melty and savory and tangy and perfect! Methinks I'll have to use it for my housewarming party. 🙂
this is one of my favorite appetizers, but I love your version with homemade marinara!
Great party dish! All you have to do is give someone a bit of bread to dip away.
For another great use of goat cheese, I highly, highly, highly recommend this appetizer at San Antonio's Liberty Bar:
For cheese spread:
*
6 ounces soft mild goat cheese, at room temperature
*
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
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1 small garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with ¼ teaspoon salt
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1 teaspoon chile morita paste or minced canned chiles chipoltes in adobo sauce
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For sauce:
*
1 tablespoon chile morita paste or minced canned chiles chipoltes in adobo sauce
*
8 ounces piloncillo (Mexican unrefined sugar)
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1 cup heavy cream
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Accompaniment: grilled bread, corn chips or crackers
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Make cheese spread:
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In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together cheeses, garlic paste, and chile morita paste or minced chipolte chiles. Transfer mixture to a small serving bowl and chill, covered, at least 4 hours or overnight.
*
Make sauce:
*
In a small saucepan combine chile morita paste or minced chiles chipoltes, piloncillo, and cream and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally and breaking up sugar, until piloncillo is melted and sauce is smooth, about 20 minutes. Transfer sauce to a small serving bowl and chill, covered, for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
*
Spread cheese on grilled bread, corn chips or crackers and lightly drizzle with sauce.
http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/747491-Piloncillo-Goat-Cheese-Spread
This was amazing, the flavors of the marinara and cheese worked really well and balanced each other out nicely. I made a batch last night. I am certainly going to make it again in the future!
Why would you build a marina out of goat cheese? All the boats would float away.
Oh….Marinara 😉
Seriously though, phreaking phantastic appetizer here Kevin.
Oh my goodness. Some of favorites in this dish. You never fail to impress!
That looks sooooooo good!!!!!!!! omg i'd give anything to cook with you!
I had this at a restaurant last year with friends as an appetizer. I have made it since then.
I love it. Nice post and photos.
Carmen
I made this last night! Oh my! It's wonderful! And so easy! I had leftover marinara sauce, but I'm trying your olive version next time.
just wanted to say I made this this past weekend and it was super delicious! thanks for the fabulous recipe I've added to my collection 😀
I've been eyeing this dish for some time now, and I'm fianlly making it this weekend. Beleive it or not, I'm a goat cheese virgin!! I love cheese, but i just haven't tried goat cheese. Looking forward to it.
I wonder if this would work in a bread bowl ?
Jamie-lee: If you wanted to use a bread bowl you would have to protect the bread while broiling it otherwise it would burn up. If you carefully wrapped the bread part in foil while leaving the marinara and cheese exposed it would probably work.
Soooo!!! Good!
Wow! I am going to make this for dinner tonight! It looks amazing!
This sounds great! I just wanted to know how many kalamata olives to use, as i feel the measurement was left out accidentally.. thanks!
Rebecca Abby: That should have been 1/4 cup kalamata olives and I have updated the recipe. Thanks and enjoy!
I make this reguarly– it's SO good with warm, crusty bread. I just use jarred marinara (Monte Bene's is GOOD) and it's ready in no time! Thanks for the recipe!