Capricorn Goats Cheese and Pears:
A few days ago I was sent a fabulous hamper of goodies from Ethel the Goat who lives somewhere in the depths of Somerset and who produces the fabulous Capricorn somerset goats cheese. She can be quite a tough old goat at times but, she clearly knows how to shop! She has challenged me to make something nice and appetising using some of her cheese along with a few of the other ingredients in the hamper or that I happen to fancy adding in.
So, for starters and since there was ciabatta in the hamper along with some walnuts and pears, I thought I’d have a go at making MY version of a bruschetta that I tried in Tuscany. And since I found some rather lovely Tuscan cashmere goats I thought it only fitting I tried the recipe with some of Ethel’s finest. The bruschetta involves cheese and pears and honey…and in my case I decided to make some honeyed walnuts too, because well, just because I wanted to try and I thought they’d add just that little bit of extra crunch!
The bruschetta were wonderful. A perfect light lunch dish or first course with some salad. And, the honeyed walnuts were a perfect complement for the slightly acid pear and piquant goats cheese.
So, here’s what I did
Goats cheese and pear bruschetta with honeyed walnuts
Print recipe
| Serves | 2 |
| Prep time | 10 minutes |
| Cook time | 15 minutes |
| Total time | 25 minutes |
| Allergy | Tree Nuts, Wheat |
| Dietary | Vegetarian |
| Meal type | Lunch, Starter |
| Misc | Serve Hot |
Ingredients
Bruschetta
- 6 medium slices Good Quality Rustic Bread (I used Ciabatta but any rustic bread that can be sliced will work)
- 1 clove Garlic (Peeled and cut in half)
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 3-4 sprigs Thyme
- 1 Capricorn Goats Cheese
- 1 Pear
Honeyed Walnuts
- 100g Walnuts
- 20ml Honey
- 1/2 teaspoon Chilli powder
Directions
| Honeyed Walnuts | |
| To make the honeyed walnuts, preheat the oven to 180c and line a baking tray with parchment | |
| Gently warm the honey in a small pan till very liquid and almost simmering | |
| Stir the chilli powder into the honey | |
 Now stir the walnuts into the honey/chilli mix and stir to coat all the nuts thoroughly | |
 Spread the walnuts out on the baking parchment and put in the oven for 10 minutes till the nuts are slightly darkened | |
 Take the mixture out and spoon the nuts onto a new sheet of baking parchment to cool. Don't skip this step or you will end up with a gloopy mass of nuts all stuck together! | |
| Allow to cool completely till the honey is hardened, then transfer into an airtight tin. | |
| Bruschetta | |
| To make the bruschetta, first rub the bread with the cut side of the garlic | |
| Now smear a little olive oil onto both sides of the bread | |
| Heat the grill | |
| Grill the bread on one side | |
 Make up the bruschetta by layering slices of goats cheese onto each slice of bread. Sprinkle a few thyme leaves onto the cheese and season with a little pepper | |
 Using a mandolin or parmesan shaver, slice VERY thin slices of pears and top the cheese and thyme with these | |
| Place under the hot grill and cook till the cheese is melting and the pear has softened | |
| Top with honeyed walnuts and drizzle a tiny amount of honey onto each bruschetta | |
| Serve while still warm | |
Now, I do think I’ll try making these again. And, the honeyed walnuts are really very moreish too. They’d work well with some goats cheese in a salad (and they are pretty good to just nibble on!). So thank you Ethel for such a lovely challenge. The main course will follow tomorrow!
My kind of food Fiona. Lovely creation
well if you do try making it, let me know how you get on;)
What a great idea! Planning to make this weekend, 1 withough chilli for my son too. Any other ideas on alternative flaours?
I like the really simple fresh tomato one, just skin and deseed some tomatoes and dice, mix with olive oil, a tiny amount of balsamic and some fresh basil. You don’t heat though, just serve on grilled bruschetta.
mmmmm I love goats cheese in any form. This looks delicious