Goat Cheese Goodness: Perfect Pairing Ideas

Goat cheese is a versatile ingredient that can be used in a variety of dishes, from salads to pizzas to desserts. Its tangy and creamy flavour and texture make it a great addition to many recipes. It is also known as chèvre in French. Here are some ideas for what goes well with goat cheese:

- Salads: Crumble goat cheese on top of a salad or mix it into the dressing. It pairs well with ingredients like beets, pears, walnuts, arugula, avocado, and fruits such as apricots, figs, and berries.

- Appetizers: Try making fried goat cheese balls, crostini with honey, or a goat cheese fritter.

- Pizzas: Goat cheese can be used as a topping on pizzas, especially when paired with ingredients like sun-dried tomatoes, olives, asparagus, eggplant, and pesto.

- Pasta: Create a creamy goat cheese sauce for pasta or mix it with mushrooms, tarragon, or peas.

- Main dishes: Stuff chicken or chiles with goat cheese, or use it in a chicken skillet or shrimp risotto.

- Desserts: Goat cheese can be used in cheesecakes, puddings, or tarts, especially when paired with honey or berries.

Salads

Goat cheese is a versatile ingredient that can be used in a variety of salad recipes. Here are some ideas for salads that feature goat cheese:

Beet and Pear Salad with Walnuts and Goat Cheese

This colourful salad combines the sweetness of beets and pears, the crunch of walnuts, and the tangy creaminess of goat cheese. A simple oil and vinegar dressing is all that's needed to bring these ingredients together.

Heirloom Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese and Arugula

Celebrate the juicy goodness of heirloom tomatoes with this delicious summer salad. Assemble it with fresh tomatoes, peppery baby arugula greens, and creamy goat cheese. The vinaigrette dressing includes honey and fresh basil, adding a touch of sweetness and extra flavour.

French Bistro Salad with Warm Goat Cheese Croutes

This classic French bistro dish features tender lettuce and warm, panko-crusted goat cheese rounds. The goat cheese is crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside, adding a unique texture to the salad.

Grilled Peach, Rice, and Arugula Salad

A hearty salad with grilled peaches, rice, and arugula. The grilled peaches add a touch of summer flavour to this simple yet impressive dish.

Farmhand Salad with Goat Cheese

This locally sourced salad is dressed with a simple balsamic vinaigrette and topped with crumbled goat cheese, chopped marcona almonds, and thinly sliced dates. The combination of sweet, tangy, and crunchy elements makes this salad a tasty treat.

Asian Pear and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese

This salad offers a perfect mix of flavours and textures, including the bitterness of arugula, the sweetness of Asian pear, the tanginess of lemon dressing and goat cheese, and the crunch of pumpkin seeds. If Asian pears are hard to find, you can substitute them with green apples or Bosc pears.

Fried Goat Cheese Salad

This creative salad topper adds a fun, super-crunchy element to your salad. Pan-frying creamy goat cheese gives it a crispy exterior, making it a unique alternative to croutons. It's a simple way to elevate your salad and make it more exciting.

Roasted Beet Goat Cheese Salad

A classic combination of creamy goat cheese, roasted beets, and avocado. The secret to this salad is baking the beets like a baked potato, resulting in tender, earthy, and slightly sweet beets that are far superior to store-bought options.

Farro and White Bean Salad

A grain salad featuring farro, white beans, roasted veggies, and crunchy bell peppers and radicchio. The bright lemony dressing and the addition of goat cheese bring a creamy tanginess to the dish.

Shaved Broccoli and Fennel Salad with Goat Cheese

This salad combines creamy goat cheese, fresh herbs, thin and crunchy vegetables, olive oil, lemon, and a sprinkle of salt. The mix of flavours and textures creates an irresistible dish.

Flatbreads/Pizzas

Goat's cheese is a versatile ingredient that can be used in a variety of flatbread and pizza recipes, here are some ideas:

Goat's Cheese and Caramelised Onion Pizza

This flavour combination is a popular choice for a reason—the tanginess of the goat's cheese is perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the caramelised onions. You can also add some balsamic glaze and fresh basil to take this pizza to the next level. For an even more gourmet touch, try using garlic-infused goat's cheese.

Spinach and Goat's Cheese Flatbread

This flatbread recipe combines garlicky spinach with three types of cheese: mozzarella, parmesan, and goat's cheese. The creamy, tangy goat's cheese pairs perfectly with the garlicky spinach, creating a flavour profile that your taste buds will thank you for.

Goat's Cheese Flatbread with Roasted Vegetables

This recipe takes your taste buds on a journey by combining tangy goat's cheese with roasted carrots, zucchini, bell peppers, and tomatoes. You can also add a drizzle of balsamic glaze to enhance the flavour profile.

Goat's Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Flatbread

This flatbread recipe is a delicious blend of flavours and textures, featuring sun-dried tomatoes, caramelised onions, goat's cheese, and olives. You can use either sun-dried tomato pesto or chopped sun-dried tomatoes to create a more chunky texture.

Customisable Flatbread Pizza

If you're feeling creative, you can make your own flatbread pizza with a variety of toppings. Start with a base of caramelised onions and goat's cheese, then add your choice of ingredients like olives, capers, prosciutto, or arugula. You can even drizzle some balsamic glaze on top for an extra touch of flavour.

Appetisers

Goat cheese is a versatile ingredient that can be used in a variety of appetisers. Here are some ideas for appetisers that feature goat cheese:

Fried Goat Cheese Balls

These sweet-savoury balls can be served as an appetiser or a dessert. The goat cheese is coated in an egg batter lightened with club soda and amplified with a double coating of panko crumbs for extra crunch. Drizzle with honey for added flavour.

Goat Cheese Crostini

A crostini is a quick and easy appetiser to make. Simply spread some goat cheese onto a crusty baguette and top with your choice of ingredients. Some possible toppings include:

• Caramelised onions and thyme
• Chhundo (a tangy, sticky-sweet, pickled marmalade with light heat from Kashmiri chile powder)
• Grilled nectarines and fresh basil
• Balsamic-glazed grilled plums
• Honey
• Rosemary and honey

Goat Cheese Fritters

These fritters are a sophisticated and crowd-pleasing appetiser. The seasoned cheese mixture is quick and easy to make in a food processor, but it needs an hour to chill before frying in batches. Serve with a tropical fruit dipping sauce.

Goat Cheese Puddings

This dessert is made by blending a vanilla custard with a log of soft goat cheese and a touch of lemon juice, creating a tangy and creamy pudding.

Baked Goat Cheese Salad

This salad features softly baked thyme-and-breadcrumb-coated goat cheese served with crunchy garlic croutons.

Caramelised Garlic Tart with Goat Cheese

This savoury tart is an impressive appetiser to serve at a party. It takes a few steps to assemble, but the results are worth it.

Beet and Pear Salad with Walnuts and Goat Cheese

This colourful seasonal salad features sweet winter treats like beets and pears, tangy goat cheese crumbles, and tender, peppery baby arugula leaves. A little oil and vinegar bring all the ingredients together.

Sandwiches

Goat cheese is a versatile ingredient that can be used to make a variety of sandwiches. Here are some ideas for sandwiches that feature goat cheese:

Grilled Goat Cheese & Arugula Sandwiches

This sandwich combines tangy goat cheese and peppery arugula with grilled bread for a "grown-up" twist on the classic grilled cheese.

Goat Cheese, Rosemary Ham, Apple, and Honey Sandwich with Arugula

This sandwich combines sweet, salty, tangy, and spicy flavours. It is made with a French baguette, layered with goat cheese, rosemary ham, apple slices, fresh arugula, and honey.

Roasted Vegetable & Mushroom Sandwich

This sandwich features a dressing made from a mixture of goat cheese, black pepper, and basil spread on the bread, and filled with roasted vegetables such as asparagus, bell pepper, poblano, red onion, green onion, squash, zucchini, or eggplant, and mushrooms.

Chicken Provencal Wrap with Spinach, Goat Cheese, and Peppadews

This hearty wrap sandwich is a great option for a brown bag lunch. It features fresh spinach greens, bright pesto, rich goat cheese, sweet and spicy peppadews, and a garlicky spread made with Dijon mustard and roasted red peppers.

Goat Cheese, Bacon, and Olive Quick Bread

This savoury quick bread is a popular option in France, where it is known as a "cake salé". It is packed with olives, goat cheese, and bacon, and infused with cayenne for a spicy kick.

Pasta

Goat cheese is a versatile ingredient that can be used in a variety of pasta dishes. Here are some ideas and recipes for incorporating goat cheese into your pasta creations:

Create a creamy and tangy pasta sauce by blending goat cheese with milk or heavy cream. You can also add herbs such as rosemary or thyme, and black pepper to enhance the flavour. Simply cook your desired type of pasta, toss it with the sauce, and sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs.

Fettuccine with Mushrooms, Tarragon, and Goat Cheese Sauce

For this recipe, combine goat cheese, Parmesan, milk, and a small amount of the pasta cooking water to create a rich-tasting sauce that coats each strand of fettuccine. No cooking is required for this delectable sauce.

Ziti with Portobello Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions, and Goat Cheese

This dish combines meaty portobello mushrooms, sweet caramelized onions, and tangy melted goat cheese for a flavourful year-round pasta option.

A lighter alternative to lasagna, this recipe from chef Justin Smillie involves tossing the ingredients in a goat cheese sauce and sprinkling Parmigiano-Reggiano on top. The dish is then briefly crisped under the broiler.

Artichoke & Lemon Pasta

This recipe is inspired by a lemony artichoke pasta dish that was tasted while sailing in the Mediterranean. It includes shrimp and kalamata olives, but you can also try it with goat cheese for a tangy twist.

Dried Porcini Mushroom Risotto with Goat Cheese

This risotto uses the mushroom-soaking liquid to cook the rice, giving it an intense flavour. The addition of goat cheese brings a touch of tanginess without overwhelming the dish.

Hearty Shrimp Risotto

A hearty and impressive Italian dish, this risotto is packed with shrimp and laced with the warm flavours of white wine, goat cheese, and fresh spinach. It's a creamy, comforting, and quick option for a weeknight dinner.

Butternut Squash Mac 'N' Cheese

Butternut squash is combined with cheddar and goat cheese to create a creamy and tangy sauce for this unique take on mac 'n' cheese. The squash adds a subtle sweetness and richness to the dish.

Three-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

For an indulgent and creamy macaroni and cheese, combine goat cheese with cheddar and Parmesan. This dish is sure to be a favourite for both kids and adults.

This weeknight comfort food features a tangy goat cheese and tomato-based meat sauce. It's so delicious that you'll want to have bowl after bowl.

These recipes showcase the versatility of goat cheese in pasta dishes, adding creaminess, tanginess, and a rich flavour that elevates simple ingredients.

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