Last Christmas my brother-in-law told me about an article he read about roasting grapes, they sounded intriguing and a bit baffling to be perfectly honest. Why would someone want to roast a perfectly good grape? Here we are one year later and look what I am doing? It turns out that this is indeed worth a try. I have seen these on top of crostini with a layer of goat cheese, but juggling a grape into my mouth at a social occassion was not something I wanted to tackle no matter what company I was sharing. That's when I came up with the idea to blend them into a goat cheese and cream cheese combination and here is where we ended up. You only need about 6 roasted grapes to make this recipe but I wanted to make it worth turning on the oven so we are roasting two cups, they make a great snack on their own and a tasty topping for a salad.

Roasted Grape & Goat Cheese Spread

by Inspired by the Seasons

Roast the grapes:

2 c red seedless grapes
1 T olive oil
3 sprigs fresh thyme

Toss these together in a bowl and place on a rimmed sheet pan lined with parchment paper (I did not use in the above roast and it was a mess to clean up). Cook 15 - 20 minutes, in a 400 degree oven stirring halfway through. You can also roast them in a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes in a 9x12 baking dish. Either method works.

Make the spread:

6 oz goat cheese
2 oz cream cheese
6 roasted grapes

Put the goat cheese, cream cheese in a medium sized bowl and combine with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until smooth. If too thick, add 1 T of milk. Blend the grapes in a small food processor or chop into tiny pieces. Stir grapes into cheese mixture. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.