Goat Cheese makes a Sassy Simple Sauce

We’ve known each other for close to 40 years

We visited our friends in South Lake Tahoe over Labor Day weekend. John and Julie planned and shared 3 full days of fun, with plenty of boating, hiking, biking, dining and toasting to golden and dear friendships. On our way out of town, we made the requisite stop at Trader Joe’s in Carson City for a road salad, their unrivaled dried tortellini and some hoppy microbrew to bring home.

We picked up our Ranui Gardens CSA box 8 hours later on the way into town. Golden beets went into the oven to roast, the basil became pesto via the Cuisinart and we saved the beet greens in a jar for the next evening’s meal.

Tortellini Pasta with Golden Beets and Greens in a Goat Cheese Sauce

Tortellini Pasta with Golden Beets and Greens in a Goat Cheese Sauce

1 bunch golden beets

1 ½ cups dried cheese tortellini

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

6 ounces fresh goat cheese

Real Salt

1/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Roast the beet the day before so they are ready for this quick meal.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the beet greens from the beets. Stick the beet greens in a jar with some water, cover with a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator. Place the beets themselves in a casserole dish with a lid. Add about 2 tablespoons of water to the dish, cover and roast about 45 minutes, until the beets are tender enough to pierce with a fork. Let cool.

Wash the beet greens. Trim away the stems. Chop the greens in ribbons, about 1/2 –inch wide. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add several teaspoons of kosher salt and stir in the tortellini. Cook the tortellini according to the package instructions; for Trader Giotto’s tortellini it is 15 minutes. Drain, saving about 1 cup of the pasta water.

Meanwhile heat the oil in a large skillet on low heat. Stir in the garlic and pepper flakes and cook, stirring about 5 minutes. Place the beet greens on top, cover with a lid, and heat until the greens have wilted and shrunk, 5 to 8 minutes.

Slip the skins from about half of the roasted beets and cut them into pieces about ½-inch wide.

Stir the goat cheese into the greens and garlic, along with about 2/3 cup of the reserved pasta water, breaking it up with a spoon, and stirring to make a sauce. Gently stir in the tortellini and the beet pieces and cook just until they are heated through, adding more pasta water if needed. Season with salt to taste.

Sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds and serve.

Makes 3 to 4 servings.

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Basil, Goat Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Muffins

Recently someone pointed out that this blog is muffintalk and I have not posted muffin or baking recipes. Here is a muffin for you all—gleaned from my baker girlfriend Cindy Mushet, who gives a feta, basil and roasted red pepper muffin recipe in her award-winning cookbook The Art and Soul of Baking. I have that big log of goat cheese as well as a 2 # jar of sun-dried tomatoes from Costco to employ and we have the first basil of the season—hooray it is finally summer! These muffins are fabulous with soup.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder


1/2 teaspoon baking soda


1/2 teaspoon salt


3/4 cup (3 ounces) soft goat cheese, cut in ½-inch dice


1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped


3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil


1 cup buttermilk


1/4 cup olive oil


1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper cupcake liners, or coat the muffin tins with melted butter and dust with flour, or spray generously with cooking spray. So the baked muffin can release with ease, coat the top of the pan as well as the inside of the cups.

Whisk both flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. In another bowl, gently stir together the goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil. Set aside.

Whisk together the buttermilk, olive oil and the egg until well blended. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the well and stir gently with a spatula. Mix only until there are no more streaks of flour or pools of liquid and the batter looks fairly smooth. A few small lumps scattered throughout are fine—they will disappear during baking. Gently fold the goat cheese mixture into the batter until evenly distributed.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the muffin tops feel firm and a skewer inserted into the centers comes out clean. Cool for about 5 minutes, then remove from the pan–careful, these are tender while hot. Serve warm.

Makes 12 muffins.

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Ranui Greens and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese Vinaigrette

The 11-ounce roll of goat cheese from Costco in my fridge begs to be made into this dressing. Use a mixture of greens and arugula.

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

summer savory at Ranui Gardens

3 tablespoons sherry wine or red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon chopped summer savory leaves

1/3 cup goat cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Whisk the olive oil, vinegar and savory in a bowl with a fork. Add the goat cheese, smashing and whisking it into the dressing. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

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Gold Beets and Goat Cheese

My neighbor and friend Rhonda throws fabulous parties. She invites a fun-loving crowd and offers plenty of booze, and always serves a creative food buffet. She loves beets, so if there are beets in the garden, these little sandwiches will be one of the appetizers. If she would have a party on a weeknight, when I wasn’t working so late, I might be there before everyone else nibbled them up.

Golden beets, as needed, washed and trimmed, greens reserved for another purpose

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup agave nectar or sugar or honey

1 teaspoon Dijon style mustard

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Log-shape goat cheese, as needed

Toasted chopped hazelnuts, pine nuts or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the beets in a small roasting pan and pour in enough cold water to reach about 1/4 of the way of the sides of the beets. Cover the pan and roast the beets until they are tender when poked with a skewer, 1 to 2 hours, depending on their size.

Remove the beets from the pan and allow to cool. Slip the skin off the beets and cut each beet into 1/4-inch rounds.

Make a vinaigrette with the vinegar, agave nectar, mustard, olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper.

Cut the goat cheese into 1/4-inch round slices using a string of sewing thread. Sandwich a slice of goat cheese between 2 beet rounds, drizzling some of the vinaigrette in between. Arrange on a serving plate. Drizzle with more vinaigrette and sprinkle with toasted nuts.

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All Red Potatoes and Breakfast for Dinner

All Red Potatoes

Robbie's All Red Potatoes with Tofurky Sausage

These aren’t ordinary red-skinned potatoes; they are red inside and out–thanks John for planting these very special gems. All Red Potatoes (also known as Cranberry Red Potatoes) are hybrids, bred circa 1980’s, with fine, moist and creamy texture, rich earthy flavor, and unusual color—bright red skin and pink red flesh that doesn’t fade with cooking. They turn into stunning potato salad, and maybe Ranui Gardens CSA members used them for My Mom’s Potato Salad when All Red’s were in our box last month.

Last week, when I got home from work late one evening, Robbie had All Red’s with Tofurky Sausage, dribbled with creamy goat cheese, warm and waiting in the oven. We kept ooh-ing and aah-ing over the color, “Look how red they are!” Breakfast for dinner is part of Robbie’s recipe repertoire. He’ll sauté onions, bell peppers and potatoes, and once they are golden and tender, he scrambles eggs right into the pan. Cheese melted over top and salsa on the side—a perfect 20-minute dinner. With a couple of fried eggs, Robbie’s All Red Potatoes make a gratifying breakfast, even for dinner.

2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 links Tofurky Sweet Italian with Tomato and Basil Sausage, sliced about 1/4-inch thick

3 or 4 cloves garlic, sliced

5 or 6 All Red Potatoes, scrubbed and sliced about 1/4-1/2-inch thick

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

About 4 ounces fresh goat cheese

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Over medium-high heat, cook and stir the onion until it begins to soften. Add the ‘sausage’ and cook and stir until the onion and ‘sausage’ begin to color golden. Add the garlic and the potatoes and cook and stir a few minutes. Turn the heat to low, cover the skillet, and cook until the potatoes are just tender, turning the potatoes every so often, and seasoning with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with goat cheese. Cover and keep warm until the cheese softens.

(Robbie transferred everything to an oiled 9 x 13-inch pan and sprinkled the goat cheese on top. He covered with foil and held it at least a half-hour, until I got home.)

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