Baked Goat Cheese with caramelized onions, garlic and dried figs makes an amazing appetizer with crostini or pears, and doubles as a fabulous topping for meat.
I have to give full credit for discovering this recipe to my friend Kim who texted me a couple of weeks ago while she was at a party literally as she was eating Baked Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onions, with Garlic and Dried Figs! She even sent a screen print of the original recipe from Food Network. Since I’d never made the recipe before, I based all my changes on her recommendations. I increased the figs used because she said “you’ll want a piece of chewy fig in every bite!” And I made sure the onions were extra caramelized. With the addition of pine nuts and even more rosemary, this recipe is sure to be a hit.
Baked goat cheese with the caramilezed onions, garlic and figs is perfect for your next dinner party. This recipe serves double-duty. You can serve it as an appetizer with crostinis, pear and apple slices and then IF there are any leftovers, bring it to the main course and serve the rest along side any pork, beef, or chicken main dish.The dried figs get infused and plumped on the stove with dry sherry and water and the onions cook with some crushed garlic and fragrant rosemary. I could stop right here because what more do you need to know? Other than this is not your average dip.
You know how I told you this is great for an appetizer as well as topped on your favorite meat dish? How about a powerhouse topping to mashed or baked potatoes? Yes, Virginia, there is a perfect holiday party dip. And it’s right here.
The recipe is best served right out of the oven just because it’s nice and toasty for whatever you’re pairing with it. But reheated and added to eggs or breakfast hash is also amazing. The uses for this baked goat cheese dish are endless! Let me know what you come up with!
Baked Goat Cheese with Caramelized Onions, Garlic and Dried Figs
Ingredients
- 1 pound goat cheese
- 10 dried Mission figs, sliced and then rough chopped
- ¼ cup dry sherry
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 rosemary sprigs, plus extra for garnish
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Handful toasted pinenuts
For Dipping:
- serve with 1 sliced toasted baguette, or pear slices, or fuji apple slices, or all of these!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Crumble 1 lb. goat cheese into an oven safe dish and set aside.
- In a sauce pot combine 10 dried figs and ¼ cup sherry with enough water to barely cover the figs. Place the sauce pot over high heat and bring up to a bubble, cover and remove from the heat and let the figs plump while the onions are cooking.
- Pour the olive oil into a large skillet and place over medium heat. Add thinly sliced onions, and cook until they begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Then add 6 cloves crushed garlic, 2 rosemary sprigs , 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, for about 10 minutes, or until the onions are caramelized to your liking. Using a slotted spoon remove the plumped figs from the sauce pot, leaving behind the liquid. Add the figs to the cooked onions, stir to combine and then spoon over the goat cheese. Sprinkle with the pinenuts. Place the dish in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the edges begin to bubble.
- Remove and serve immediately with sliced baguettes, pear and apple slices.
- This recipe is also a fabulous addition to any meat dish, particularly pork and steak.
Recipe adapted from Food Network.
Thought I’d give this a try. I’m not usually a fan of goat cheese but this was pretty good.
My daughter eats paleo and I made this for Christmas Day after reading the reviews at foodnetwork.com. It was certainly enjoyed atop crackers and fruit. In fact, my daughter plans to use this recipe in a competition at her workplace. These are the modifications I made: (1) used 12 oz of goat cheese, based on several comments, and I think it was plenty. (2) used dried apricots instead of figs, because of personal preference. (3) used the liquid that the apricots plumped in so the cheese would be more spreadable (4) used some dried thyme instead of rosemary. Next time I will again use 12 oz of goat cheese…..probably honey goat cheese to make the spread a little sweeter. Also, I will increase the amount of toppings because the onion really cooks down and there just wasn’t enough apricots for my taste. So…. this recipe is readily adaptable to individual taste. I hope this is helpful to others contemplating trying this recipe. Thank you, Sally, for posting this recipe!
Ruth, thanks for your comments and modification suggestions! And good luck to your daughter with her entry into her work competition. I love hearing everyone’s suggestions for changing up recipes and it means a lot that you took the time to share yours.
This looks perfect scooped up with pear slices! YUM!