Ghoulish Goat Cheese Torte

This recipe is one from my "Mom's Book". I've adapted it just a little, the original recipe called for sun-dried tomatoes and pesto, but I prefer roasted red bell pepper puree to the tomatoes.  I've made this countless times over the years and each time for non-Halloween events. Normally, I use a medium sized bowl to form the torte, so that the finished appetizer looks like a dome. In fact, I got the idea to make this torte into a brain by accident a few years ago when I made this torte for a potluck Superbowl party. Rather than waiting to add the red bell pepper puree to the torte when I arrived at the party, I mistakenly layered the bell pepper puree to the inverted torte before I left the house. On the way over, the puree had started to bleed down the edges of the plastic wrapped goat cheese and began to look a lot like a ghoulish brain. By the time I got to the party it looked hideous. I think everyone was afraid to eat it and who could blame them, it wasn't Halloween so the ugly appetizer was not appreciated. Sometimes the missteps lead to better pathways...fast forward to this year, while on my weekly 99cents Only Store run, I see these Brain Molds for a buck. Ding! Ding!...I'm gonna make that ugly ass torte and its going to look fabulous as a brain! This time on purpose! And not only is it going to look festive and ghoulish, it's quite frankly and most importantly, amazingly delicious!

I made this torte twice in a week because I wasn't that happy with the photos and then I ended up liking them both. So you'll see this torte brain two ways, one with the puree added to the brain mold prior to the first cheese layer, which creates a creepy bloody brain and one without the puree which will give you the white brain pictured above. Enjoy being creative and playing around with this delicious appetizer! My husband had a great idea after I'd made the second torte, he suggested adding olives to the front of the brain to mimic eyeballs. I'll definitely try that next year. Happy Halloween!

Ghoulish Goat Cheese Torte
Makes ~3 cups


2- 8oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
1- 4oz. Goat Cheese, room temperature
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup prepared pesto
1 cup roasted red bell peppers, pureed

In a medium sized bowl or food processor, combine room temperature cheeses and finely minced garlic and mix until incorporated. Set aside.

Place about 1 1/2 cups roasted red bell peppers into a mini food processor and puree. Set aside and refrigerate.

Assembly
note: use room temperature cheese mixture when assembling the torte. If chilled, bring to room temp before assembling.



1. Line the brain mold with plastic wrap.(For a non-Halloween appetizer, use a medium sized bowl instead.)

2. For the white brain (pictured above) layer about 1 1/4 cup of goat cheese mixture into the plastic lined brain mold. Use a spoon to smooth out the cheese. Fold the plastic wrap lightly over the cheese and with the back of your hand press down on the cheese to imprint the brain mold into the cheese.

3. Open the plastic wrap and next layer the 1/2 cup pesto and smooth out.

4. Spoon in the remaining cheese mixture in small amounts to carefully cover the pesto. Once a thick layer of spoonfuls cover the pesto begin to smooth out cheese, taking care not to mix in the pesto layer with the cheese. 

 
5. Fold over the plastic wrap to cover the cheeses and refrigerate for minimum 1 hour or overnight to cool and firm up the cheeses and pesto. 

6. Once chilled, firmly press the plastic covered torte with the back of your hand to further mold the brain. 

7. When read to plate the torte, make sure the torte is completely chilled. Do not attempt to unwrap and flip it onto a plate if it is at room temperature. Unwrap the plastic from the face up cheese layer and place your serving plate over the top of the mold. While holding the plate and the mold, flip over the two together so that the brain comes out of the mold and is now resting on the plate. Carefully remove the rest of the plastic wrap from the brain.

8. Spoon the roasted red bell pepper puree around the molded torte and serve with sliced baguettes or crackers. 

To make the Bloody version of the Ghoulish Goat Cheese Torte (above): Before adding the first cheese layer, add two tablespoons of bell pepper puree to the plastic lined brain mold. Then continue with assembly instructions at step 1.

Here are some other Halloween Inspired recipes to try:
Black Bean Hummus, "Beet"ing Hearts Salad, Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

Crostini with Roasted Peppers, Goat Cheese, Lemon, Honey and Mint

Do you want to taste the most delicious crostini appetizer ever? According to me and my husband of course...I made these for my husband for our belated Valentine's date night the Saturday after Valentine's Day. The kids had a sleep over at their aunt's and my husband and I got to have some much needed down time. Normally, I would have jumped at the chance to go out to dinner and have something delicious, served to me with a glass of good wine. However, I just really wanted to stay in and cook and sit in a quiet house to recharge. It was wonderful, the silence was priceless and the food and company was great! 

I threw these together with what I had on hand. I had a frozen baguette in the freezer which I thought would be great to make some crostini. I roasted bell peppers earlier in the month and wanted to use them as well. My mom gave me a half dozen Meyer Lemons from her tree the day before and I wanted to include them somehow. I had a small container of crumbled goat cheese in the fridge and of course I had honey on hand. The only ingredient I didn't have was mint. I looked through my fridge and contemplated using basil or thyme since I had those on hand. But, I knew I wanted to have mint paired with the lemon and honey in this appetizer. I don't use mint much in my cooking so I had to run out and pick some up. I had all the ingredients I wanted and here's how I put it all together...Hope you enjoy them.


Crostini with Roasted Peppers, Goat Cheese, Lemon, Honey and Mint

• 1 french baguette, sliced
• crumbled goat cheese
• 2 roasted peppers
• zest of whole Meyer lemon
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp mint, finely chopped
• sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Zest whole Meyer lemon and set aside.

Infuse the oil
Pour olive oil in a small bowl and add about half the Meyer Lemon zest. Let the zest infuse the olive oil. (You can do this a day ahead to really infuse the oil but it is not required, next time I make these I'll infuse the oil overnight to really punch up the lemon flavor)

Marinate the peppers
Slice roasted peppers into 1/4 inch strips and place in another small bowl. (I used a mix of orange, red and yellow peppers) Add remaining lemon zest and finely chopped mint to the peppers. Add about 2 Tbsp of honey and sprinkle with sea salt. Mix and set aside.

Toast baguettes
Arrange baguettes on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and brush each side of baguette slices with the Meyer lemon infused olive oil. Put in oven and bake for about 10 minutes. Then turn slices over and cook an additional 10 minutes until toasted. Remove and let cool.

Assembly
Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp crumbled goat cheese on each crostini and then top with two strips of the marinated peppers. Spoon remaining marinade from the bowl onto each crostini and make sure each one has some of the mint. Then drizzle additional honey on the top of each crostini.  Enjoy!

I served these super yummy Crostini with some Spicy Fried Chickpeas and crackers with Red Pepper Jelly, all paired with a very festive Valentine-y sparkling wine called Je T'aime.   "Cheers to Love and Life!"