To answer your first question: Yes, it’s as good as it looks. And a breeze to make. Wish I had thought of it, but at least I recognize a genius idea when I see one. Crisp tostada, warm soft goat cheese, grilled autumn vegetables. My friend-in-cheese and talented cook Jeff Babcock was experimenting with fresh chèvre at home when this tasty concept took shape. Following Jeff’s guidelines, my husband and I made the dish last week and tossed some fresh salmon on the grill to go with it. Now I can’t wait to remake it with other fall produce like butternut squash, radicchio and mushrooms.
You don’t really need a recipe (although I’m providing one below). You need tostadas, a fresh spreadable cheese (doesn’t have to be goat cheese) and whatever grillable vegetables speak to you. Jeff used poblano chiles, fennel, red cabbage, red bell peppers and knob onions (the small bulbous type that I call spring onions). I did the same, although I replaced the knob onions with a small red onion.
I chose Snøfrisk, a moist, mellow Norwegian goat cheese enriched with cream, for my tostadas. This spreadable cheese warms beautifully, becoming as soft as frosting. Other excellent choices for the topping would be Meredith Dairy Marinated Sheep & Goat Cheese, Laura Chenel Marinated Cheese, Green Dirt Farm Fresh Sheep Cheese, Spain’s Wooly Wooly or Cypress Grove Fromage Blanc.
Jeff told me he enjoys creating meatless dishes so satisfying that nobody misses the meat. I’d say he nailed it.
Goat Cheese and Grilled Vegetable Tostadas
Improvise with the autumn vegetables you like. Eggplant, mushrooms, cauliflower, radicchio or butternut squash would be delicious.
1 poblano chile
1 small red or golden bell pepper
¼ small red cabbage, in 4 wedges
½ large bulb fennel, in 4 wedges
1 small red onion, peeled and quartered, or knob onions or scallions
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces fresh, spreadable goat cheese such as Snofrisk
4 corn tostadas, 5 to 6 inches in diameter
Cilantro leaves for garnish
Tajín and/or fresh lime wedges
Prepare a medium charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill to medium. Preheat an oven to 325°F.
Grill the poblano and bell pepper until charred all over. Cool, peel, seed and cut into strips.
Coat the cabbage, fennel and onion wedges with olive oil and grill until lightly charred and softened to your taste. I like the vegetables to still have a hint of crunch. Transfer to a cutting board, cut out the cores and tear or slice into bite-size pieces. Combine with the pepper strips and season with salt and pepper.
Put the goat cheese in a ramekin and bake until the cheese is warm to the touch and a bit quivery. Put the tostadas on a rack in the oven until they are warm, about 2 minutes.
Spread the cheese on the tostadas. Top with the grilled vegetables and cilantro leaves. Sprinkle with Tajín, if desired, and serve immediately with lime wedges.
Serves 4