Baked Tomato Goat Cheese Dip
Baked Tomato Goat Cheese Dip is a holiday-friendly hot appetizer that requires less than 10 ingredients and is so easy to make! We'll start with RAGÚ Simply® Traditional Sauce flavored with garlic and basil, top it with goat cheese and a few herbs and serve with golden crostini when it's hot out of the oven!
Ingredients
- 2 cups RAGÚ Simply® Traditional Sauce
- 3 cloves garlic divided
- ¼ cup fresh basil chopped
- ⅛-¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- 1 10-10.5 ounce log goat cheese, softened at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon fresh thyme
- Kosher salt and pepper
- 1 large baguette sliced on the bias
- Olive oil as needed
- Blistered tomatoes for serving (optional)
Instructions
- PREP: Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and one in the lower third. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Spray a small round baking dish with cooking spray; set aside. Add RAGÚ sauce to a small bowl, grate in 2 cloves of garlic, add half the basil and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine, then pour sauce into the prepared baking dish.
- GOAT CHEESE: Smush the goat cheese log into a ball. Place the ball between two sheets of plastic wrap. Using your hands, flatten the cheese into a thick, round disc that is about an inch smaller in diameter than your baking dish. Remove goat cheese from plastic wrap and place in the center of your sauce. Drizzle two teaspoons of olive oil over the cheese. Sprinkle with fresh thyme, a pinch of kosher salt and fresh pepper. Bake in the lower third of the oven, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is warmed through.
- CROSTINI: While the dip is baking, place the baguette slices on a baking sheet. Drizzle or brush with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake crostini in the upper third of the oven during the last 10-12 minutes. Flip crostini over around the halfway mark. When the bread is golden and crispy, remove it from the oven, cut the last garlic clove in half and rub the cut-side on the bread to flavor it.
- SERVE: Serve the dip topped with the remaining basil with crostini on the side.
Notes
- Blistered Tomatoes: Heat a skillet on medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add 1-pint cherry tomatoes to the dry skillet and let sit for 1 minute undisturbed. Lower the heat to low, toss the tomatoes, drizzle with 2 teaspoons olive oil and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the tomatoes are about to burst. Remove from heat, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper and serve on dip with fresh basil.
