Baked Camembert with Garlic Toast

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

It's 4:05pm here and already super dark outside.




 I was so excited for winter to come this year, but now looking at these bright photos of Baked Camembert and Garlic Toast taken on a sunny lunchtime in August, I miss summer.

Have you ever tried Camembert? It's a soft cheese, first made in France. I bet you've passed by it so many times on the chiller shelf in the supermarket, on your way to pick up a block of Cheddar.

I hope the above picture alone inspires you to pick up a box of Camembert next time you're in the shops. If you love melted, gooey cheese, you're in for a real treat.

A Simple List of Ingredients:

1. Camembert Cheese
2. Garlic
3. Fresh Rosemary
4. Olive Oil
5. Ciabatta or Tiger Loaf

Bismillah, let's begin!


Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6 or 200 degrees C. 


Take 1 whole Camembert. Make sure that it is suitable for vegetarians. This one had the symbol on the back. 

Take it out of the box.

Unwrap it and get rid of the plastic.

Put the cheese back into the wooden box, without the lid this time.

Place it on a baking tray or dish.

Using a knife, pierce the top of the cheese in several places.

Next, time for the fresh rosemary - you could also use fresh thyme as well, if you want.

Take the leaves off the sprig of rosemary. You can use as much rosemary as you like.

Also, peel and finely slice 1 Garlic Clove. The garlic is optional - if I made this again, I wouldn't add it.

Put the pieces of garlic into the slits.

Along with the rosemary leaves.

Drizzle the cheese with 1 teaspoon Olive Oil.

Place into the hot oven for 10 minutes until the centre is melted.

While the cheese bakes, make the garlic toast. I used tiger bread for this but ciabatta would be good too as would a baguette.

Cut a few slices of Tiger Bread.

Drizzle or brush one side of bread with a few tablespoons of Olive Oil.

Place the bread, oil side down, on a hot grill pan.

Once the bread is toasted and crisp, take them out of the pan.

Rub 1 Garlic Clove, peeled on the toasted side, and sprinkle with a little salt.

By now, the cheese should be lovely and melted. It may not look it, but under the skin is a molten river of gooey cheese.

Serve the Camembert straight away with the garlic toast and your favourite raw vegetables. Enjoy! 

Baked Camembert with Garlic Toast

Adapted from BBC Food

Ingredients – serves 3 people

For the Baked Camembert

1 whole Camembert cheese, in its box

1 Garlic Clove, peeled and sliced (optional)

3-4 sprigs Fresh Rosemary or Thyme

1 teaspoon Olive Oil

For the Garlic Toast

Few slices Tiger Loaf or Ciabatta

1 Garlic Clove, peeled

Few tablespoons Olive Oil

Method

To bake the Camembert, preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6 or 200 degrees C.

Remove any plastic from the cheese. Put the cheese back in to the box without the lid.

Pierce the top of the cheese, in several places with a knife.

Put pieces of the garlic (if using) and rosemary into the slits.

Drizzle with the olive oil.

Put the cheese in its box onto a baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes or until the centre is melted and gooey.

To make the garlic toast, brush one side of the bread slices with the olive oil. Place this side down on a hot grill pan until toasted and crisp.

Remove from the pan, and immediately rub the toasted side with the garlic clove and sprinkle over a little salt.

Serve the melted cheese with the bread along with any raw vegetables you like. We chose baby carrots.

This Time One Year Ago:

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cake Slices

This Time Two Years Ago:

We went for Hajj, alhamdulillah.

Keep me in your duas, please,

Wasalaam!