Remember when Pinterest first came out and you could spend hours and hours looking at pictures of things you wanted to eat or wear? You could scroll endlessly through a carefully curated stream of delicious or stylish photos and never get bored. Those were the good ol’ days.
Now some mysterious algorithm decides what I see which is mostly ads. It’s like it doesn’t even matter who you follow anymore. You just see the same 10 ads over and over again. I still use Pinterest constantly to save things I find on the internet, and my board are carefully crafted, but I hardly ever spend time just scrolling anymore.
Pinterest also used to be a great place for bloggers to share their work with a lot of people for free. But all those ads you’re seeing mean there’s no longer space for bloggers unless they can pay. It was at the moment of this change that I lost all hope that my blog would ever be even moderately popular. C’est la vie.
All this is to say that this recipe comes from a moment when Pinterest absolutely saved the day. I went to a party with a wheel of Camembert and no idea what I was going to do with it. A quick Pinterest search brought me to this flavor combo. My hosts had everything I needed to make this happen, and it was a hit.
Garlic & Thyme Camembert is really one of those non-recipes. Basically, you remove the plastic from the cheese, put it back in its box, give some cute cross hatch cuts, sprinkle on some flavor, and stick it in the oven until it gets oozy. Serve it with some toasty bread, and you’re golden. No need to tell your party guests how simple it was.
Change is inevitable. Luckily, we can always count on cheese to be totally awesome.
- 1 wheel Camembert cheese
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 or 2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (this is the time to use the tasty stuff)
- Preheat your oven to 350F (175C).
- Remove the wrapping from your cheese and place it back in the box with the lid off. Place it on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Use a sharp knife to cut into the top of your cheese in a diamond pattern.
- Sprinkle your minced garlic and your thyme over the top of your cheese. I've used both fresh and dry thyme, and both ways were great.
- Finally, drizzle some olive oil over the top. Don't really worry about measuring anything. Trust your instincts.
- Place your topped cheese in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until it's oozing with awesomeness.
- Serve warm with crostini or crackers.
- If you want to make your own crostini to serve with this, simply slice a baguette into 1/2 inch slices and arrange them on a baking sheet. Spray or drizzle them with some olive oil. Pop them in the oven for about five minutes a side while your cheese is doing its thing. Just keep a watch over them until they're as golden as you like.
