Goat Cheese: Flatbread pizza and lemon asparagus pasta

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I love goat cheese. I've been working on a brick of it for the past week and these are my two favorite creations.


Herbaceous Flatbread with Ricotta and Goat Cheese

1 Trader Joe's Garlic and Herb pizza dough

"Sauce"
3 cloves of minced garlic
Handful of minced basil
3 tablespoons of minced chives
6 tablespoons of olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper

Make the sauce and set aside.

2 onions - caramelized on low heat with a tsp of butter, salt and pepper

5 tbs of ricotta cheese
1/4 cup of shaved parmesan
3 oz of goat cheese

3-4 leaves of basil chopped for garnish once it comes out of the oven

Roll out the dough, place in a pizza pan and bake for 5-7 minutes at 425F
Top with the herb olive oil sauce (if you have a food processor- throw this mixture in there first)
Arrange caramelized onions on top
Top with cheeses- use two spoons to make one dollop the ricotta on each piece.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Bake for another 10-12 minutes or until the crust is light brown and the cheese is melted. Top with fresh basil.



Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta with Goat Cheese and Asparagus

During my obsessive reading of food blogs last week I discovered this recipe. I decided to make some changes and give it a go with the awesome asparagus I picked up from the Walla Walla farmer's market and my favorite pasta from Trader Joe's. I copied this recipe directly and switched out the pastas and herb.



1 bag of Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta from Trader Joe's
1 pound slender asparagus spears, trimmed, cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
4 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
1 5- to 5 1/2-ounce log soft fresh goat cheese (the pre-crumbled stuff will not melt as well)
Juice from one lemon

Cook your pasta in a large pot of well-salted water until it is almost tender. Add asparagus and cook until firm-tender, another two to three minutes. Drain both pasta and asparagus together, reserving one cup of pasta water.

Meanwhile, combine olive oil, lemon peel, basil and cheese in a large bowl, breaking up the goat cheese as you put it in. Add hot pasta and asparagus to bowl, along with a couple slashes of the pasta water. Toss until smoothly combined, adding more pasta water if needed. Season generously with salt and pepper.