Baked Marinated Goat Cheese

I have a friend who doesn't like chicken.

She has never like any type of poultry, although she does keep trying.

So when I have my friends over for dinner, I might still make chicken, but I'll make sure there is something on the table she'll eat. Like bread. Or salad.

When I saw this recipe for baked goat cheese though, I knew I needed to make it for her.

What it should look like

You see, our favorite appetizer at The Pub is undoubtedly the goat cheese dip (A warm blend of goat cheese and herbs topped with marinara and toasted almonds. Served with toasted pita wedges.) It's just delicious.

Martha Stewart told me to buy pre-marinated goat cheese, but I needed three of those packages to equal one of the large, un-marinated packaged, so I decided to marinate it on my own.

Cut up the goat cheese I had bought, added a little garlic, basil and olive oil and let it sit overnight.

I want to go back to the basil for a second.

I hate buying herbs.

Not because I hate using them, I love using fresh herbs, but because the grocery store forces you to buy a whole bunch and you use what you need and then you have to throw away the rest because the leaves start turning brown and/or slimy before you can use up the rest.

At least that's my experience, and I'm probably doing something wrong.

I fail at growing herbs, too. No green thumb.

Anyway. I was perusing the herbs, thinking about goat cheese and rice (different dish), bemoaning the need buy so much, when I saw something in a tube.

Turns out, there is a company that sells organic herb purees so you don't have to buy a whole bunch of herb, or do any chopping. Time saving and less wasteful? Sign me up. Once I open the tube, I have to use the whole thing in 30 days, evidently, but still. I bought the basil. I'm considering the cilantro.

So I decided to marinate my goat cheese overnight. A little basil, a little olive oil, a little garlic. Thing it, turns out goat cheese doesn't stir/fold/mix well. Maybe I should have listened to Martha Stewart and bought the pre-marinated/herbed kind.

I put the marinated cheese in the smallest baking dish I could find. Martha didn't say anything about non-stick spray, but I sprayed the dish anyway. Who wants to try to scrape off baked on cheese?

I basically let it go until I heard it bubbling/I was ready to start cooking my entree in the oven. I served it with pita chips. I did not put on pink peppercorns or any such silliness.

This is mine. I'm gonna have to start taking better pictures.

We ate the whole thing. It was delicious.

Conclusion: Will totally make again. Maybe with pine nuts.