Friday, August 19, 2016

Cherry Tomato Crostini with Homemade Herbed Cheese

This week at Cook The Book Fridays (CtBF), the selected recipe from David Lebovitz's cookbook, My Paris Kitchen, is Cherry Tomato Crostini with Homemade Herbed Goat Cheese

To make the herbed cheese, either whole goats' milk or cows' milk yoghurt can be used. Since I always make my own yoghurt at home using whole cows' milk, that's what I used. 



Strain the yoghurt over a mesh strainer lined with a few layers of cheesecloth overnight in the refrigerator. What you get is really Greek Yoghurt, thick and creamy. Transfer the thick yoghurt into a bowl, and stir in finely chopped fresh herbs of your choice, though David did mention that be sure to include chives. So I snipped a few young stalks of chives, and basil leaves, both from my garden pot, and mix it with some fresh coriander. Chop them finely and mix into the yoghurt along with finely chopped shallot and garlic. Season with salt and pepper with a generous pinch of cayenne powder. 

Halved the cherry tomatoes, place on a baking tray, drizzle some olive oil, tuck in some fresh herbs, of which I've used basil and rosemary leaves, both from my garden pot. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper, stir to mix and bake in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes, stir once or twice in between. David suggested to bake these ahead of time, up to 8 hours in advance, so that the tomatoes have time to marinate in their own juices. 

For the bread, I've used my homemade sourdough bread. I've lightly sprayed the bread with olive oil and toast in the oven until light brown. As soon as they are out of the oven (even though it was suggested when just cool enough to handle), I rub the toasts with a garlic clove. Love it! I did not expect that the garlic would be like almost grated when rubbed onto the surface of the toasts, and find that I need another clove of garlic (for 6 slices of toasts). We are garlic lovers! And the aroma is just fantastic!



Time to assemble  (tummy growling!) ; the herbed cheese, roasted cherry tomatoes, slices of toasted sourdough bread and some fresh parsley for garnish.



Spread a generous amount of the herbed cheese on the toasts, top with a few of the roasted tomatoes, along with some drizzle of the wonderful juices from the tomatoes and garnish with some fresh herbs. 


 Bon appetit! Yummy!



I love the herbed cheese! We had the leftovers as a dip, with more sprinkling of cayenne powder, with some fresh celery and carrot sticks. So good! 

Do stop by CtBF to view everyone's take on this delicious crostini. If you have the book or thought of getting one, please do, and join us! Full details here.

14 comments:

  1. Such a healthy and beautiful recipe. I love to make fresh cheese using Greek yoghurt...simple and divine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gorgeous results for your yogurt cheese and roasted tommies! Excellent idea to use the cheese as a dip! Mine was a bit thick.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am glad you agree that this was so delicious! Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Never thought of using the cheese as a dip too! Great idea! Getting hungry looking at your photos!

    ReplyDelete
  5. These are beautiful - and I love your homemade bread!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I spread the leftover herbed cheese over a pie crust and made a tomato tart out of it. These are so many ways to enjoy the wonderful components of this recipe. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Making this cheese with your own yogurt makes it even more special. I like your idea of using the leftovers as a dip. I've got more of everything, so I'm just going to repeat the toasts tomorrow. Loved every part of this dish!

    ReplyDelete
  8. OMG, that crostini looks so good on your homemade bread. This was a really wonderful recipe that we
    enjoyed and I will make again.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Is there anyone who didn't think these roasted tomatoes were keepers? I made two batches last week and am thinking about roasting more this coming week. Like you, I didn't wait for the bread slices to cool down, I just used a paper towel to hold the sides and slathered it with garlic. Having read your post and thinking about how delicious this really is, I'm getting hungry all over again! For me, with a glass of wine, it's a meal.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh wowo looks so fresh and delicious

    ReplyDelete
  11. Tummy grumbling, indeed! Delicious and such pretty presentation. We also ate the cheese as a spread, slathering over crackers, etc., and I used it as a dip for veggies, too. What a great, versatile recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  12. So impressed!! I loved your post and descriptions, and your dish looks fantastic!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Your dish looks fantastic. I love your descriptions and choices. Lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your cheese is so creamy- it looks great, I bet it was a good dip too.

    ReplyDelete