In many Nashville gardens the summer of 2013 will be remembered as the year of rain and basil. While the poor eggplants are molding on the stem, basil is taking over the world. I’m truly sorry for the eggplants, but we are enjoying all the new basil dishes I’ve been concocting. (Well most of them - we won’t talk about the pancakes.) The hands down favorite so far has been Blue Cheese and Basil Cheesecake, and it was exciting to get to make it on Talk of the Town (click link to view) yesterday. When Meryll Rose said she was intrigued by the recipe, I thought I might have a winner. My test panel of college guys voted on three different versions of this appetizer cheesecake to make on Channel 5. The results were unanimous – they all agreed that the addition of toasted almonds took Blue Cheese and Basil Cheesecake over the top. They loved it.
There are truly quite a lot of things to love about this recipe. First of all, you simply toss all of the ingredients in the food processor and blend it up. How easy is that? Also, it can be made a few days before you want to serve it. In fact a day in the fridge might make this appetizer even better. You could serve it with crackers or French bread, apple or pear slices, in fact about any fruit or veggie you can slice up! Blue Cheese and Basil Cheesecake could even be the centerpiece of a gorgeous main dish spinach salad. It bakes up nicely in ramekins or any smallish cups that are oven proof. I have a confession to make here. Normal people probably buy new outfits to wear on television, I get new dishes. It’s a not so secret crush. I bought adorable little spring form pans for my Blue Cheese and Basil Cheesecakes – three for $10 – irresistible.
So yesterday I packed up my ingredients, new pans, and old but reliable food processor, and went to cook on Talk of the Town. If you’re wondering how cool it is to get to cook with Lelan Statom the answer is very cool. I actually got to talk about grits (salt vs. sugar) with him. Oh my!
I also took tons of basil, even a couple of plants with me in case someone at the station wanted to make Blue Cheese and Basil Cheesecake at home. That’s when I discovered that there is probably no one in this city who doesn’t have basil to spare. I couldn’t give the stuff away. If only we could have that problem in the middle of January. But for now anyway – let them, in fact let all of us, eat cake – at least Blue Cheese and Basil Cheesecake! Just not for dessert!
Blue Cheese and Basil Cheesecake
Ingredients
4 oz cream cheese
4 oz ricotta cheese
3 oz blue cheese
2 eggs
Juice of one lemon
1 Tbsp sugar (more to taste, if you want this a little sweeter)
½ tsp salt
1 tsp coarse ground black pepper
¼ cup toasted almonds (I toast them in the microwave for a minute or two)
½ cup basil leaves
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine cheeses in a food processor.
Add eggs, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper and pulse to combine.
Add almonds and basil leaves and pulse to incorporate.
Use two 4-inch springform pans or ramekins for baking. If using springform pans, put a layer of aluminum foil around the outside to prevent leakage.
Spray pans or ramekins with cooking spray.
Place ramekins in a large baking dish and add about 1 inch of very hot to boiling water.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until lightly browned.
Turn off oven and partially open the oven door to let cheesecake cool for 45 minutes.
Remove cheesecakes to the refrigerator to cool for 2 more hours before unmolding.
Cheesecakes may be made two days ahead of time.
Serve with crackers, bread, apple slices, pear slices, or veggies.
