Barefoot Contessa - Lunch Edition!

Yesterday was such a great day. Between having the day off from work, watching the Inauguration celebrations, and squeezing in a Downton Abbey Season 2 marathon, the Girls Team really enjoyed ourselves. With the afternoon free, we weren't limited to dinner recipes and had a lot of fun cooking a delicious lunch courtesy of Ina Garten, another one of our Food Network Favorites. We bring you MIHM - Lunch Edition! 

"Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics" by Ina Garten

Cheese is my favorite snack, ingredient, meal, dessert, etc., etc. You get the point: I LOVE CHEESE. So when I saw the recipe for Warm Goat Cheese in Phyllo in my new cookbook (thanks Santa!) I knew I had to make this ASAP. I gathered the ingredients and sped over to my mom's, ready to get lunch going! 

Phyllo dough, goat cheese, butter, breadcrumbs.

Dijon mustard, olive oil, garlic, white wine vinegar, pepper, kosher salt.

If you're following the recipe linked above, there are two substitutes you should note. We used white wine vinegar instead of champagne vinegar, because we couldn't find that at the store. The recipe also calls for goat cheese discs. We just bought a goat cheese log and cut it into discs because the store didn't have the brand recommended by Ina. Neither substitution seemed to be a big deal in the end.

Working with the phyllo dough was a little stressful because it can quickly dry out. Trying not to feel rushed, we layered melted butter and bread crumbs in between four sheets of phyllo dough. We cut 6 discs of the goat cheese and placed them in the center of the dough. 

Brushing melted butter on the phyllo dough.

Bread crumbs, sprinkled over butter layer. 

1/2 sheet of dough with cheese placed in the center. 

Working in circles as if wrapping a gift, we wrapped the cheese with the four layers of phyllo dough. Make sure to twist the extra dough at the top once it's fully wrapped. 

Harder than it looks!

Cheese and dough on parchment paper.

The cheese and dough will bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. While in the oven, we prepped a side salad with homemade vinaigrette. The vinaigrette was really easy to make. Just mince the garlic and then whisk all of the ingredients together. Once ready, combine in a bowl with salad greens.

Adding olive oil to dressing.

Mixed greens.

As we were making the dough, we weren't sure how flavorful the finished product would be. Once lunch was ready, we dug into the cheese which was warm, gooey and delicious. The baked phyllo dough added a subtle crunch. The tangy mustard flavor in the dressing really stood out against the rich flavor of the cheese. Any hesitations we had about flavor were quickly forgotten! 

Lunch is served! 

Preparation time for the cheese and dough took about 20 minutes and baking took 20 minutes. In under 45 minutes the Girls Team enjoyed a gourmet lunch. We'll definitely be making these again! We're also thinking this recipe without the salad would be a great party appetizer. You can only be so creative when you pack a lunch to bring to work every day so it was nice to spend some time cooking a unique lunch meal. I loved watching the Inaugural Parade with my mom and enjoying this lunch treat!