Baked cheesy vegetable crocks, Israeli style
By Tali Simon | August 21, 2011
I tried a recipe the other night from Jamie Geller’s Quick & Kosher that I had previously written off as impossible to make in Israel. The reason? It called for one-ounce garlic and herb soft cheese triangles, something I knew I’d have a hard (read: impossible) time finding.
I’ve seen plenty of messages on local community email lists asking about mehadrin cheddar cheese. But I hadn’t ever seen someone looking for one-ounce garlic and herb soft cheese triangles, and it seemed like a wild goose cheese. That’s okay, I told myself. This random specialty cheese is a small price to pay for the privilege of living in Israel. Move on, girl. So I did.
But as I flipped through my cookbooks last Sunday, the recipe caught my eye again. And I decided that herb cheese triangles or not, I was going to try this dish. (I also left out the four tablespoons of parmesan. The stuff is ridiculously overpriced, and it would take all of my willpower not to finish it off in one pot of pasta.)
Happily, my Israeli version of baked cheesy vegetable crocks was a winner. It looked pretty as I assembled it, smelled wonderful as it baked, and tasted so good that we finished it to the last drop. (Jamie suggests serving it as a side, but we had it as the main dish with sweet potato fries on the side and it was certainly a filling meal.)
The cheese topping, by the way, even with my shredded mozzarella substitute, was AMAZING. I’m thinking it’ll be my secret for an over-the-top baked ziti. What else would you use it for?
Oh, and if anyone finds those cheese triangles, please try them out for me.
Modified from Quick & Kosher: Recipes From the Bride Who Knew Nothing
Ingredients
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 16 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 can yellow corn, rinsed and drained
- 4 scallions, diced
- salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt (not vanilla!)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream (but 15% works well)
- 4 Tbsp parmesan cheese (optional)
Note: If your local grocery carries garlic and herb soft cheese triangles and you want to use that instead of mozzarella, go for it — I’m sure it’s wonderful. Use four 1-ounce triangles for the cup of cheese.
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 F/200 C.
2. Layer celery, tomatoes, corn, and scallions in a baking dish. (The original recipe says to divide the veggies into four ramekins. Since we don’t have any, I used two small rectangle Pyrex dishes instead, but it would have been fine in a single dish.) Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. In a small bowl, combine cheese, yogurt, and heavy cream and use the mixture as the final layer in the baking dish. (The original recipe calls for sprinkling 4 Tbsp parmesan over the top at this point. If you don’t have it, don’t worry. It’s delicious even without it.)
4. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until the cheese just starts to brown. Serve hot.
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