Baked Valbreso Cheese with Sundried Tomatoes, Olives and Pine Nuts

This may be made in any small ovenproof dish that you have, but it is particularly attractive in a small 4-6 inch round cast iron pan. These pans are available online from Lodge Cast Iron.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
20 minutes to pre-soak an ingredient
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 block of French Valbreso Cheese Sheep’s Milk Cheese (see photo)
(A solid block of any Feta cheese or Lebanese cheese from an Arabic/Grocery will work as well)
– anything you can slice to lay in a small pan.

2 Tbs pine nuts

3 Tbs of good olive oil

5-6 sundried tomatoes cut in half longwise

4 cloves of garlic sliced thin longwise

6 olives (I prefer the large green Italian Cerniglia)

6 basil Leaves

Sour dough bread and/or pita bread for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Place your sundried tomatoes in a glass of warm tap water for 10 minutes to soften. Drain. 

Toast your pine nuts for 1-2 minutes in a stovetop pan. Watch them carefully, so they do not burn. Remove to cool.

Heat your olive oil on medium heat, saute’ your sliced garlic for just 20-30 seconds until it barely changes color, add our bay leaves and stir. Set aside.

Slice your block of cheese into 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick slices being careful not to break them for presentation purposes. Use only 4-5 slices. Place the slices overlapping in your small ovenproof pan. Make sure to use the pan that you will serve them in. Top the cheese with the drained sundried tomatoes.  

Bake your cheese on the middle rack for just 5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Drizzle with the olive oil and mildly toasted garlic. Top with the sliced olives and pine nuts. Roll the leaves of the basil and cut them horizontally into a chiffonade. Sprinkle basil leaves on top.

Serve with toasted slices of Sourdough bread brushed with a little olive oil. May also be served with pita bread, plain or brushed with olive oil and toasted.