[Sca-cooks] OOP: Savory Roasted Garlic Cheesecake

[Gaylin Walli]

Papa Gunthar wrote:

> So I'm working on new cheesecake recipes. I want chocolate,
> mango, period, Roman, savory, garlic (definately garlic),
> etc..

This may not meet your specific needs, Papa Gunthar, but it is a
cheesecake and it does have garlic in it. I've done this successfully
without the tomatoes as well but you have to fudge the ingredients a
little an I kind of do that by feel and taste. Let me know if you have
any questions. -- Iasmin



Savory Roasted Garlic Cheesecake for Papa Gunther

Description: A layered, savory cheesecake, with roasted garlic, fresh
basil, three kinds of nuts, and sun-dried tomatoes.
Makes: 1 cheesecake
Oven Temps: first 350F, then 325F

--Ingredients--

For the crust you need:
1 cup fine cornmeal
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the green filling you need:
1 1/2 cups packed, fresh basil leaves
6 ounces sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained, 2 tablespoons of the
packing oil reserved
2-3 garlic cloves, roasted (more or less to taste)
2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 ounces freshly grated Asiago cheese
3 tablespoons pine nuts
salt and pepper to taste

For the white filling you need:
1 pound Mascarpone cheese
8 ounces cream cheese, cut into bits and then softened
3 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

For the topping and garnish you need:
8 ounces sour cream
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
sun-dried tomato slices for garnish
fresh basil sprigs for garnish

--Instructions--

(1) Roast the garlic.

Preheat the oven to 350F. I use roasted garlic a lot so I roast a whole
head at a time. You only need about 2-3 roasted cloves for this recipe,
but you can use more or less if you wish, to taste (my family likes 2-3
cloves, but I really like garlic). To roast them, separate the cloves
from a head of garlic, but leave the skin on.

Place all the garlic cloves in small glass baking dish. Add 2
tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat.
Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake the cloves until they
are golden brown and tender, about 45 minutes. Cool them and then
squeeze the garlic to release the meat of the cloves.

Turn down your oven to 325F.

(2) Make the crust while the garlic is roasting.

In a bowl blend together the cornmeal, the walnuts and almonds, the
butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Press this mixture into the
bottom of a buttered, 10-inch springform pan. When the garlic is done
roasting and the oven cooled to 325F, bake the crust in the middle of
the oven for 10 minutes, then remove it to cool.

(3) Make the green filling.

Using a food processor, combine the basil, the tomatoes with the
reserved oil, the roasted garlic, the Parmesan and Asiago cheeses, the
pine nuts, and the salt and pepper until the mixture is smooth.

(4) Make the white filling.

Using an electric mixer, blend together the Mascarpone, the cream
cheese, the eggs, and the flour until the mixture is very smooth. Try
to avoid too much blending, which will incorporate too much air into
the mixture.

(5) Construct the cheesecake.

Pour half the white filling into the crust, spoon the entire amount of
the green filling over it, spreading carefully with the back of a
spoon. Then spread the remaining white filling over the green.

(6) Bake the cheesecake.

Bake the cheesecake in the middle of a preheated 325F oven for 1 hour.

(7) Add the topping.

In a clean bowl, blend together the sour cream and the flour. Spread
the sour cream topping on the cheesecake, and bake the cheesecake for
an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until it is set. Let the cheesecake
cool in the pan on a rack, then chill it, covered loosely, for at least
3 hours (overnight is better). Remove the springform portion of the pan
and then garnish the cheesecake with some sun-dried tomato slices and
fresh basil.

-- Some Hints --

This is not a low fat dish. Hooray!

Try varying the nuts to your liking. Consider using a coffee grinder to
incorporate these with the cornmeal better.

Use different green herbs as garnish.

Avoid dried garlic. It's nasty and bitter and it will only go badly if
you use it. Trust me on this.

Try varying the cheeses to your liking, remembering to substitute hard
cheese for hard and soft cheese for soft. This recipe doesn't behave
well using cheese from a can. Use fresh cheese.

Incorporating too much air into the egg-cheese mixture can cause the
cake to crack before the end of the baking time.