Chevre is a French goat cheese with a soft but crumbly texture and an earthy, tangy flavor that’s fantastic with so many different foods. This dish that I like to serve as an appetizer is emblematic of France’s Provence region and shows some of the Italian influence you can find there in its simple, rustic flare.Most people, when thinking of French cooking, think of the fussy, sauce laden cuisine of Paris, of Escoffier and Carame.
However, Provence is just as, if not more, representative of French cuisine, and it’s so accessible and easy. Despite being classical French cuisine, all of these ingredients are readily available at any supermarket state-side, so it’s not hard to produce this amazing dish. The goat cheese blends seamlessly with the tangy onions and earthy mushrooms, tying the dish together beautifully and being complimented by pungent, earthy thyme. I prefer fresh thyme here if possible, it’s super easy to grow in your garden, but if you can only get dried that’s absolutely fine!
As to the mushrooms, button mushrooms are alright, but try to get an exotic mushroom blend with some oyster, shitake, portabella, chanterelles, any sort of different mushroom than just the white buttons. Splitting the mushrooms up between button and portabella at the very least will add a bit of color and savor to the dish. I definitely recommend the yellow or sweet onion here because a white onion doesn’t have enough flavor, and a red onion would overpower the delicate mushrooms. Balance is very much the key here, and if you can balance all your ingredients and keep them on theme you can really master any cooking style. Here’s what you’re going to need to make my Chevre Bruschetta, which is really almost like a goat cheese pizza!
Serves 4:
- 8 pieces French bread, sliced on the bias about ¾ inch thick
- 1 ½ cups assorted mushrooms, roughly chopped
- salt and pepper
- 1 medium yellow or sweet onion, chopped
- 1 tsp fresh Thyme
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 8 oz roll of chevre goat cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a skillet on medium high heat and melt the butter. Sautee mushrooms, onions and thyme until the onions are translucent, tossing the mixture about regularly.Season lightly with salt and black pepper. Crumble goat cheese onto the sliced bread and top with the heated mushroom and onion mixture. Bake for about 5-10 minutes at 400 or until the cheese starts to turn golden brown where it’s exposed.I like to serve this with a little balsamic vinegar and a small mixed green salad so you have something to mix in any bits that fall off of the bruschetta.
