Pistachio-Coated Goat Cheese Rounds on Mixed Greens with Nut Oil Vinaigrette
 

"The goat cheese rounds should be only slightly chilled when you coat them, but they should be thoroughly chilled before baking. That will help prevent the cheese from overbaking. Also, because the rounds do not take very long to bake, you should have the greens already prepared and distributed on salad plates before you put the cheese in the oven.

Servings: 4
Ingredients:
            1/4 cup sherry vinegar
            1/4 cup Leblanc pistachio, walnut or pecan oil
            4 tablespoons Leblanc olive oil
            Salt and freshly ground pepper
            5 tablespoons raw, unsalted pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped
            1/4 cup toasted bread crumbs, preferably sourdough
            4 ounces log-style goat cheese, such as Laura Chenel Chevre, cut into 4 equal-size disks
            6 cups mixed greens, such as arugula, mizuna, radicchio and frisee

Directions:
            Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

            In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, nut oil, and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

            In a small shallow pan, bake the nuts until they are lightly browned and emit a slight nutty aroma, 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside 1 tablespoon of the nuts, and leave the rest in the pan.

Put the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a small flat dish, and put the breadcrumbs in a second small dish. Coat each cheese disk thoroughly with the olive oil. Next, dip the disks in the breadcrumbs, again coating well. Gently press one side of each disk in the nuts until the nuts adhere to the cheese. (If the nuts do not stick, let the cheese warm up slightly, and using your fingers, press the nuts onto the tops of the cheese rounds.) Put the goat cheese rounds, nut side up, on a small baking pan. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes and up to 24 hours.

While the cheese is baking, in a large bowl, toss the greens with the vinaigrette and distribute the salad on four salad plates.

Bake the cheese rounds for 6 to 8 minutes, or just until the cheese begins to feel soft to the touch. It is better to underbake than to overbake them, since the latter will result in a sea of melted cheese.

Remove the cheese from the oven and immediately place one cheese round on the side of each plate of greens. Sprinkle with the remaining 1-tablespoon nuts, top with a little coarsely ground pepper, and serve.