Goat Cheese Lends The Perfect Tanginess To The Umami Flavors In Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Goat cheese has a unique and unmistakably gamey, tangy palate that stands out whether it's spread on a cracker, sprinkled over a salad, or baked into a savory galette. While you may pair goat cheese with a drizzle of honey or candied nuts, sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese make the ultimate umami flavor bomb. Sun-dried tomatoes are one of the most umami-rich ingredients on the planet, and their robust, mouthwatering flavor stands up to the equally rich and tangy taste of goat cheese. Plus, sun-dried tomatoes make a nice chewy contrast to the creaminess of fresh goat cheese.

Sun-dried tomatoes come both dried and oil-packed, supplying different flavors and textures that would work well with an even more diverse array of goat cheese flavors and textures. Goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes often come marinated with herbs and spices, which will only add to their complexity as a pairing. Since both ingredients are prepared and ready to eat, they make an easy addition to cheese plates or fancy toast toppers. But, they're also ready to be incorporated into countless other recipes, starting with this spinach and sun-dried tomato puff recipe from Tasting Table recipe developer Annabelle Randles.

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More Ideas On How To Combine Goat Cheese And Sun-Dried Tomatoes

The goat cheese, spinach, and sun-dried tomato puffs make a tasty appetizer, but an even easier way to combine these two umami-packed ingredients is by stuffing sun-dried tomato halves with herb-marinated goat cheese. Another idea is to make a simple whipped goat cheese with a splash of cream and milk, then topping it with oil-packed sun-dried tomato strips and pine nuts, finishing with a drizzle of the tomato-infused packing oil. You could serve whipped goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes with crudités, over a fine cut of steak, or alongside this nduja cheese bread recipe.

For a tasty main course idea, you could blend sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese with heavy cream, roasted garlic, salt, and black pepper for a sumptuous pasta or flatbread sauce. You could also use goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes to stuff ravioli or as a topping for white pizza, adding porcini mushrooms for another layer of umami goodness. They'd work wonderfully as additions to a frittata, omelet, or egg hash with spinach and potatoes. If you are using dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes, you can efficiently reconstitute them in chicken or vegetable stock, then use the infused stock and the rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes in a luxurious goat cheese risotto.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.