Chocolate and goat cheese pastries {+ a giveaway}

Enjoy these easy yet elegant pastries, filled with dark chocolate and creamy goat cheese, for breakfast, at tea time or as a light dessert.

We regularly -- and without question -- pair cheese with wine, right? Similarly, we know how good a glass of red wine and some dark chocolate can taste.

So why is it that we don't often think of pairing cheese and chocolate together?

Clearly we've been missing the boat. In a big way.

In honor of Valentine's Day (which, frankly, is not a big deal around Casa de Ninj) and, perhaps more importantly, the end of Detox January (which I vow will not simply become Retox February), I've created a little treat -- dark chocolate and goat cheese pastries -- that you can enjoy for breakfast, with afternoon tea or as a light dessert.

Or, if you're Mr. Ninj, all three.

Regular readers know I'm a big fan of sweet and savory combinations, like my salted cardamom oatmeal cookies or the holiday favorite bourbon-salted peanut butter chocolate truffles. So when my friends at Vermont Creamery and Lake Champlain Chocolates suggested pairing chocolate and cheese for Valentine's Day, my interest was a little more than piqued.

At first I was a little stumped as to how best to mix the creamy, savory goat cheese with the richer, sweeter chocolate -- other than just snarfing them down separately, of course. I tried to think classier. Which made me realize that both since both cheese and chocolate get melty and even more awesome when warm, why not tuck all that awesomeness inside a pastry?

Booyah.

As with many of my recipes, this one is easy peasy, even though it makes quite an elegant impression. The pastry puffs up like you wouldn't believe, and while the goat cheese and rich chocolate does indeed, as I had hoped, get all melty and awesome in the center, there's not so much of it as to overwhelm the whole pastry effect. It's very less-is-more.

Now, as if cheese and chocolate in this pastry recipe weren't awesome enough, I'm also going to give you a chance to live the sweet and savory dream for yourself.  You see, while I may have moved away from Vermont, I'm still a huge fan of its local products. Compliments of Vermont Creamery and Lake Champlain Chocolates, I'm giving away a cheese and chocolate Valentine's Day package to one of my lucky readers. Talk about a yummy gift!

This Valentine's Day prize package (a $60 value) includes

• Vermont Creamery Bijou goat cheese (this is what I used in my pastry)
• Vermont Creamery Bonne Bouche goat cheese
• Lake Champlain Chocolates Traditional Valentine's Truffle Heart  

For your chance to win this Valentine's Day prize, simply enter the giveaway following the instructions below the recipe. (Note: The giveaway is open to U.S. residents 18 years of age and older and ends on February 9, 2015 at 12:00 am.)

Are you hip to pairing cheese and chocolate this Valentine's Day? Leave a comment: The Ninj wants to know.

Sweet and Savory Chocolate and Goat Cheese Pastries

Makes 8 pastries. Inspired by a Food Network recipe by Giada De Laurentis.

Ingredients:
4 ounces goat cheese
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons sugar
pinch of kosher salt
1 17.3-ounce package puff pastry (2 sheets)
2 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 egg, beaten, for a wash

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix together the cheese, egg yolk, vanilla, sugar and salt until well blended.

On a lightly floured work surface, unroll the puff pastry and slice each sheet into 8 equal squares. Divide the cheese mixture evenly among the 8 squares, placing a dollop in the center of each square, and top with chopped chocolate (divide all the chocolate evenly among the pastries).

To shape the pastries, fold one corner of the square over the cheese mixture to within half an inch of the opposite corner. Brush the part you just folded over with the egg wash, then fold its opposite corner over it (the dough will now be long and open-ended -- don't fold the remaining two "points" of dough). Brush the whole pastry with egg wash and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, allowing room for the pastry to expand. Repeat procedure with remaining squares.

Bake for 15 minutes or until puffed and golden. Cool on a wire rack.

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www.yankeekitchenninja.com
-- print recipe --

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Note: While Vermont Creamery and Lake Champlain Chocolates are providing the prize for this giveaway and have provided me with samples, neither has in any way compensated me for my recipe or my participation in this giveaway. The recipe and all thoughts expressed in this post are my own.