Pecan & Goat Cheese Cheesecake

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Palmer's Village Café's Chef John Belechak shares a recipe for a scrumptious goat cheese cheesecake with Georgia pecans that is wonderful paired with savory or sweet accompaniments.

Pecan & Goat Cheese Cheesecake

Ingredients:

For crust:

4 Tbsp. melted butter

1 c. Ritz crackers, crushed

1 c. med grind pecans (smaller then a pea)

1/4 c. parmesan cheese

1 tsp. smoked paprika (or regular paprika)

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

For filling:

1 lb. cream cheese

1 1/2 lbs. goat cheese

4 eggs

1/4 c. heavy cream

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 c. chopped scallions

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon thyme (or regular thyme)  

1 tsp. salt

Directions:

Preheat conventional oven to 350 (325 for convection). Combine crust ingredients. Line bottom of 9” springform pan with ¾ of crust. Reserve the rest for later. Cream the cream cheese, adding eggs, cream, goat cheese until smooth. Stir in herbs and seasonings. Pour filling into pan. Sprinkle top of cheesecake with remaining crust before baking. Place a pan of water in oven when cheesecake is put in to create a moist environment. Bake cheesecake for 25 min. at 325 degrees. Turn off oven and let sit for 30 minutess. Remove from oven and let cool and set. Can be made 2 days in advance. (Shown served with micro-celery and radish salad, and tomato jam with pickled okra.)

Georgia bounty sources: Pecans from Clough Pecans, Blackshear, available at Uncle Don’s Local Market.