An old friend of mine is soon to embark on a journey a great geographic distance away from me. Always an enthusiastic and appreciative dinner guest, most importantly a highly creative and rational influence and loyal friend, I selfishly regret that Mike will be escaping the city walls of London, Ontario. Virtually we will remain connected, and I'll mail him non-perishables.
In the meantime, Mike would have loved these pieces of toasted bread slathered with pesto, warm baked goat cheese and olives as much as I would have enjoyed serving them to him. At least it's so easy that he and anyone else will not have the slightest difficulty making these delicious appetizers.
 Mixed Greens with Warm Goat Cheese and Pesto on Toast |
Recipe by Lisa Turner
Published on July 18, 2008
Toasted crusty bread topped with pesto and baked goat cheese and served on mixed salad greens — simple, elegant and delicious
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
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Ingredients:
- generous handful of fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 thick slices of crusty bread
- 1 clove garlic, split
- 6 oz (170 g) soft unripened goat cheese
- 5 cups mixed salad greens
- juice from 1 lemon (3 tablespoons)
- sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
- handful of green or black olives, pitted
Instructions:
Using a mortar and pestle, mash the basil together with enough olive oil to make a watery paste (about 1/4 cup). Set aside for at least 1 hour. Lightly toast the bread slices and rub with garlic. Preheat an oven to 450°F. Whisk together the lemon juice, remaining olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss the salad greens with the dressing. Place the slices of toast on a baking pan and top with 3/4 inch slices of goat cheese. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cheese is slightly browned on the edges. Remove from heat and top each slice with the pesto. To serve, transfer some of the salad greens to plates and top with slices of toast. Scatter the olives on the plates.
Makes 4 servings |
8 comments:
Hi Lisa,
This looks really, really good! I must stop reading my recipe books as leisure and start cooking from them.
And I thank you back for being a great friend to me to :)
xxx
Pesto just makes everything better! This looks lovely.
You can't go wrong with these ingredients. Looks awesome and I can have this for breakfast any time.
Looks so go Lisa. Goat cheese is a delight in any form.
Hey Lisa,
This ilooks great, I love goat cheese. How innovative you are. Any chance of participating T&T this month, btw? Meeta over at What´s For Lunch, Honey has some amazing recipes over there. I have tried her bagels, ... yum!
Yum. Shame hubby doesn't like goats cheese. However, Im lucky to be able to work from home twice a week so perhaps I will make it for my lunch - hubby need not know!!
Ooo wow that looks good. Especially on that nice big piece of white bread. And with the goat cheese a bit toasty, yum.
I am just in the process of catching up with all my favourite bloggers after working mega hours. This sounds amazing with the goat cheese:D
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