I’ve been finding lately that my meals tend to revolve around cheese. When looking through my fridge and pantry to find something to make for lunch, I generally pick the thing onto which I can put the most cheese. If there doesn’t seem to be anything on which I can toss excessive cheese, I may just eat cheese in its natural, un-enhanced, and unaccompanied state.
There’s nothing wrong with cheese by itself or on crackers or apples (both of which really only exist to serve as vehicles for cheese). If sliced cheese gets boring (which should be impossible given the huge variety of kinds of cheese), one can always transition to the world of melted cheese!
Triscuit pizzas, a personal childhood favorite courtesy of my older sister, have recently reentered my life to high acclaim. Since introducing my housemates to these easy, brilliant creations, I haven’t been able to find Triscuits in my house—they’re either hiding in someone’s room or have all been eaten. This little snack follows the same paradigm as pizza bagels: lay out as many crackers as you can on a microwave-safe plate, spoon on a bit of tomato sauce, sprinkle grated cheese on top, and then microwave for about 45 seconds.
Perhaps you’re picky and can get bored even of this brilliant snack. Well, you hard-to-please cheese lovers, there are more options still: the entire realm of baked cheeses is deliciously uncharted territory. Again, there’s an easy model for beginners: wrap a soft or semi-soft cheese in puff pastry dough and bake it at 400 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes.
On Wednesday night, instead of doing the work that I was supposed to do, I chose to make a couple of baked cheese snacks. It was a good idea, and you should do it, too; work doesn’t matter. Also notice the same baking temperature. You could definitely make these at the same time and eat them all in one sitting. Just sayin’.
Baked Brie
Ingredients
1 puff pastry sheet, thawed
1 slice or round of Brie cheese
Fig jam (or other type of jam)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice Brie in half longitudinally.
3. Spread ample fig jam between halves. Smoosh back together.
4. Wrap Brie in puff pastry as prettily (or not) as you want.
5. Bake about 20 minutes on foil-lined or greased baking sheet.
6. Try to let it cool before devouring.
Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tart
Ingredients
1 puff pastry sheet
1 medium onion, finely chopped
8 oz. goat cheese
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Oil for sautéing
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Heat oil in large, medium skillet while you chop onion.
3. Sauté onion until lightly browned. Add brown sugar and vinegar and continue to cook until onions are soft.
4. Using a cookie cutter (or jar or glass), cut out as many circles or squares (shape doesn’t matter) as possible of the puff pastry dough.
5. Spread a generous amount of goat cheese, then onion, on each cutout.
6. Bake about 10 minutes.