For your next grazing board! Finely diced roasted asparagus, heirloom tomatoes and garlic folded in with whipped cream cheese and aged gruyere.

• 

  • Save

• 

  • Save

• 

  • Save

• 

  • Save

• 

  • Save

• 

  • Save

• 

  • Save

• 

  • Save

• 

  • Save

• 

  • Save

Much like my post yesterday I had made platter inspired foods all weekend. That way I could just graze. When I make platter or spread style foods I always go for a theme. A theme just makes things easier. That way you can reign in what you want to make . You can make a variety that doesnt compete with each other and you can use up some ingredients that may need to go. When those days come, where I have alot of opened bags of cracker or a bag of cheese ends in the fridge I go one of two ways. Pasta or a grazing board. The pasta can lead to a bunch of different dishes depending on the noodles and cheese selection. The grazing boards can sometimes be easier especaially if I have fruit jams or jellies open.

I made this cheese log with an aged gouda I had in the fridge and some leftover roasted asparagus that needed to be used up. I again let another green tomato over ripen. I got curious as to what a green tomato actually is and turns out alot of time they are just under ripened heirloom tomatoes. That fact made me exctied for all the green tomatoes I let turn red and all the recipes I’ll be able to make. I figured since my tomatoes’ days were numbered i used it in the herb spread. Then i rolled it up since it ia a soft cheese and it handles better rolled.

This recipe was super tasty. I even used it the next day stuffed in chicken. It was the best stuffed chicken I’ve had in a long time and I’m generally not the biggest fan. This spread is great on cold wraps, chip dip and even crumbled on a salad. Check out my tips and tricks below for the best roasted asparagus and heirloom cheese log. Try this recipe out and let me know what you think!

TIPS & TRICKS FOR THE BEST ROASTED ASPARAGUS AND HEIRLOOM CHEESE LOG

let the veggies cool: the key to keeping all the cheese together is keeping it low moisture. do that by allowing the cooked veggies to cool completely. Before incorporating it into the cheese.

grate the cheese first: when your working with a block of cheese. Unless you are pulverizing the entire block of cheese to make a spread. do not just throw in the cheese. if you throw in a whole hunk of cheese it will cause it to crumble leaving it a weird texture. instead grate the cheese with the hand grater. using the wide mouthed largest option. that is also why i make this cheese by hand and skip the food processor all together.

let it chill before serving: although this cheese is great from the bowl. as im sure you’ll find out. when you try it with a couple crackers before you roll it. because whose gonna know? if you have 30 minutes to let the cheese sit and set up the cheese would greatly benefit. putting the cheese back into the fridge will cause it to cool down from all the handling. it also will bring everything to the same temperature. once the temperature is even it will firm it all up and have a nicer cut to it.

hand cut is better: for this recipe i skip the food processor all together even though it may seem like a good idea. for starters i don’t want the cheese too wet. so i add the tomatoes at the cut sizes i want instead of it getting whipped with everything else. i wanted to be able to control the size of the asparagus bites and the cheese tasted better folded in.

any tomatoes will do:for this recipe im really using over ripe green tomatoes. which also happen to be heirloom.any fresh tomato will do whether it’s a beefsteak or roma. just make sure it isn’t canned. if you don’t have tomatoes you could always substitute pimentos.

cook the veggies: you cook the veggies for two reasons. one, it helps them taste better. these veggies are lightly roasted with a little olive oil salt and pepper. just to help them taste like themselves. two, it removes the moisture in the long run. the olive oil in the roast helps the salt stick to the asparagus. the salt will help draw out the moisture with the help of the heat. so that the final product doesn’t get overly wet.

SIMILAR INGREDIENTS TO:

1. AVOCADO FETA DIP
2. SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP
3. SPINACH PEPPERONCINI DIP

ENJOY THIS RECIPE WITH:

1. APPLE CHARD BACON JAM
2. SMOKED SALMON CREAM CHEESE SPREAD
3. HOT PEPPER TAPENADE

WANNA SEE MORE PHOTOS? FOLLOW ME !