Goat Cheese And Smoked Salmon Torta

Total Time: 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1/4 cup pistachios
• 5 -6 ounces fresh mild goat cheese, room temperature
• 5 -6 ounces neufchatel cheese, room temperature (i use low fat philadelphia cream cheese)
• freshly ground pepper
• 2 ounces smoked salmon, preferably scraps, minced (1/2 cup, packed)
• crostini
• thin slices baguette

Recipe

• 1 place the pistachios in a small dry skillet and stir over medium heat until lightly toasted and fragrant, about 5 minutes. pour the pistachios into a colander and stir and shake them over the sink to cool them and to remove some of the skins. chop the pistachios and set them aside.
• 2 in a small bowl, blend together the two cheeses and a few grinds of pepper until smooth. line a deep 3 or 4-cup bowl or fluted mold with plastic wrap. spoon one third of the cheese mixture inside and pack it down; level the top with a rubber spatula. sprinkle the minced salmon evenly over the cheese and press it down with the back of a tablespoon. spoon another third of the cheese over the salmon, pack it down, and level the top with a spatula. sprinkle all but 1 tablespoon of the pistachios evenly over the cheese and press it down with the back of a tablespoon. spoon in the remaining cheese, pack it down, and level the top. cover with the overlapping plastic wrap and chill for 2 or 3 hours.
• 3 uncover the top of the cheese, turn the bowl upside down, and unmold the cheese onto a large plate. remove the plastic and sprinkle the reserved pistachios on top of the torta. let the torta sit at room temperature for 1 hour. circle the cheese with crostini and baguette slices and serve with 2 knives for cutting into wedges and spreading on the crostini and baguette slices.