Quick Food Fix: Queso De Cabra; Munch Bunch edition

Another munch bunch, another great relaxed evening with friends, another complete spread, another successful food feast.

Munch Bunch is a gathering of four couples who are self-proclaimed foodies and love to attempt making new cuisines and then enjoying the delicious meal over laughter, food and awesome company. We have made Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Greek, Boys cooking evening amongst a few!

This month our theme was 'Spanish Tapas' and we were all excited at making tapas. A friend actually commented, there are so many options, I don’t know what not to make.

The picture speaks a thousand words, this was our spread:

 

I attempted to make two things, a cold Soup: Gazpacho. Somehow soup and cold does not go well for me, but it being summer and Munch Bunch is all about challenging ourselves, I said, let’s try Gazpacho. The other tapas for me was Queso De Cabra (Baked Goat Cheese). It's my favorite item to order at any Tapas place I go to!

Surprisingly, The Queso De Cabra was very quick to cook and easier to assemble. It qualifies for my 'Quick Food Fix' Needless to say, going forward, it will be a regular in our meals at home.  Quick Food Fix for me, is something that can be put together from start to finish in under 25 minutes and should be substantial, a complete meal. Simple

 Queso De Cabra:

Serves 6

Time to Prep: 5 Minutes, or how quickly can you chop?

Time to Cook: 15 Minutes

Time to bake: 5 Minutes

Ingredients:

Tomato: 3 chopped finely/ pureed

Onion: 1: White/Pink finely Chopped

Garlic: 1 clove finely chopped

Butter: 1-2 Tsp

Goat Cheese: 5-6 spoons

Basil: 3-4 tsp dried basil or 2-3 tsp finely chopped fresh basil

Jalapeno: 1 finely chopped

Red Chilli Flakes: Per taste

Salt, Pepper: Per taste

Sour Dough bread: 3-4 slices cut in medium size cubes (any other type of bread will do as well)

Method:

1. In a heavy bottom pan, heat butter on medium heat

2. Add Onion and Garlic till translucent and fragrant

3. Add the herbs and sauté for 1-2 minutes

4. Now add the tomato puree and jalapeno

5. On low heat, cover the pan and let the sauce cook for 10-12 minutes

6. The sauce gets thicker, so remember to stir and you know it will be ready when butter floats on top.

7. Taste and adjust seasoning.

You are welcome to add 1-2 tsp. of heavy cream for a more creamy texture

Assembling:

1. In a ramekin/ shallow bake ready pan, put 2-4 cubes of bread

2. Pour the sauce till 3/4 to the top

3. Put 2-3 spoons of goat cheese and bake at 250 F for 4-5 minutes

Serve with bread as a dipping suace/ as a main

Here is the picture of My Queso De Cabra

 And yes, it was as delightful and delicious as it looks, if I can say so myself.