Red Wine Cranberry Goat Cheese Dip & Holiday Spiced Nuts
a festive Christmas spread of red wine cranberry goat cheese dip & holiday spiced nuts
serves: 10-12 (appetizer servings)
Ingredients
Scale
Red Wine Cranberry Goat Cheese Dip
- 12 oz (1 bag) fresh cranberries, rinsed
- 2/3 cup red wine
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 18 oz goat cheese
- ¼ cup hot water
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp chopped rosemary
- kosher salt, as needed
- freshly cracked black pepper, as needed
- chopped pistachios, to garnish
- toasted bread or crackers for serving
Holiday Spiced Nuts
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp anise seed
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ cups raw pecans
- 1 ½ cups roasted & salted cashews
- 1 ½ cups roasted & salted pistachios
Instructions
Red Wine Cranberry Goat Cheese Dip
- Combine the cranberries, red wine, sugar, and rosemary in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15-18 minutes until thickened and syrupy. Let cool (the mixture will thicken more).
- Combine the goat cheese, hot water, olive oil, lemon juice, and honey in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Pulse in the rosemary. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
- Serve the goat cheese dip with the red wine cranberries and pistachios over top, alongside some toasted bread and crackers.
Holiday Spiced Nuts
- Add the water and brown sugar to a large saute pan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Whisk in the salt, cinnamon, anise seed, and cayenne pepper. Let boil for a minute or two until the bubbles become larger (the goal is to allow a good amount of water to evaporate before adding the nuts).
- Stir in all of the nuts until fully coated. Let cook for another 30 seconds.
- Pour the nuts out into one layer onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Let cool.