The best-baked camembert with sundried tomatoes
I took this baked Camembert dip with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and thyme to a dinner party around the middle of December and it was a big hit. I served it as an appetizer at our family Christmas Day lunch and my sister fell so in love with it that she asked if it could be her signature dish. I then made it a third time for friends who came for dinner at my house, and they scraped the bowl clean so I knew I was on to a winner here. I have made it with basil and with thyme and both are nice, but I prefer thyme. It couldn’t be easier to do and this four-ingredient wonder is set to impress.
The key to success here is the delicious sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil vinaigrette from Ina Paarman. This post is NOT sponsored by the way I just love this product so much. It adds an intense flavour hit to tomato sauces and can liven up a mezze platter like nothing else I know. You don’t need very many to get the flavour bomb you are after.
So roughly chop about 8 – 10 sundried tomatoes with about 4 teaspoons of the delicious sauce and add the crushed garlic and thyme leaves. I like it quite garlicky so add 2 big cloves.
I pick about 2 teaspoons of thyme leaves off the stalks. Sidebar: this is literally my second worst cooking prep chore and I can’t believe a gadget to do this hasn’t been invented yet. If they can launch a Tesler into space, surely they could come up with a basic machine to strip thyme leaves off its stalks?
Place your wheel of Camembert or cut-up wedge of Brie into a small oven-proof dish of an appropriate size and slash a few cuts into the surface. You want the tomato mixture to really bake into the cheese.
Bake in an oven that is heated to 180C / 350F for 10 – 20 minutes and until the cheese is molten and bubbling around the edges. The reason I have such a wide range of cooking times is that it depends on how big your cheese is. A small Camembert will take a max of 15 minutes, while a bigger cheese like this Dalewood Fromage Languedoc will take a bit longer.
Serve this piping hot with slices of fresh bread, toasted baguette, toasted pita chips (my best option here because of the crunch), or crackers.
Be sure to tag me on Instagram if you do make this because knowing that you have made it and enjoyed it will bring much joy to my heart.
A few other tasty appetizers for your next party:
The. best whipped feta with roasted tomatoes and garlic
Baked goat cheese cigars with honey & thyme
Red wine caramelised onion & goat cheese tartlets
Crispy oven-roasted onion rings with jalapeno dip
baked camembert dip with sundried tomatoes, garlic & thyme
Ingredients
- 1 wheel of Camembert cheese or a good size wedge of Brie
- about 8 sundried tomato wedges enough to generously cover the surface of the cheese
- 1 – 2 large garlic cloves crushed
- 1 – 2 tsp Thyme leaves picked from the stalks
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350 F.
- Place the cheese in a small oven-proof dish and slash the surface area with a knife in a crisscross pattern going about a third of the way through.
- Roughly chop the sundried tomatoes and mix with the garlic and thyme. Spread this mixture over the surface are of the cheese and bake for about 15 – 20 minutes until bubbling and melted all the way through.
- Serve hot with bread or toasted pita chips to scoop.
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