Rosemary Garlic Marinated Feta Cheese

A fabulous gift for the cheese lovers in your life that they will absolutely swoon over! The cheese is amazing on its own or crumbled over salads, veggies, fish, chicken and so much more. Save the flavored oil to add flavor to all your dishes.

A beautiful holiday gift … adapted just slightly from Full Belly Sisters

This was a gift for some very special people this year … By day, I work at a software company. I write requirements and make prototypes. I work with an amazing group of strong-willed, independent women. We get the software requests, we talk to clients, we read government regulations and other boring certification documents, we look at how our software works today and then translate all of this information into software changes that will solve the problem at hand. We prototype, write, and orchestrate the changes. We put a lot of ourselves into every software request. There are 8 of us in the group, all close-knit friends. We don’t just solve software problems; we talk through life problems. We laugh and cry, joke, eat, drink, occasionally one of us will do a happy dance and there have been times when some of us will even break out in song. These people are more like sisters to me than coworkers.

I wanted to do a little something special for them for Christmas, something small enough that they wouldn’t feel like they had to reciprocate, but enough to let them know how much I appreciate their presence in my life.

It is hard to find something they can all eat. There are several allergies in the group, including two that don’t eat gluten (one more strictly than the other) and one that doesn’t eat nuts or chocolate. One is also sensitive to dairy, but she CAN have it, she just has to be careful how much of it she eats at once … So I chose to give them each a jar of this lovely cheese. I haven’t heard back from all of them, but reviews so far are very positive. I hear the husbands are chomping at the bit to eat it.

Serve this cheese simply with toothpicks~or with crackers or crusty bread. Crumble the feta over salads, pasta, rice, chicken, fish, Greek, Italian or other Mediterranean dishes. Use the flavored oil for cooking, salad oil, or as a dipping sauce for your bread. You can strain out the pepper flakes and sun dried tomatoes or just throw them into your recipes as well.

Make sure to tell your gift-recipients to keep this jar of cheese in the fridge, where the olive oil will harden, but it will turn to oil again if they simply leave the jar out at room temp for 30 minutes-ish before serving.

Rosemary Garlic Marinated Feta Cheese

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: as many as you like

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Ingredients

• A large block of feta cheese, cut into cubes
• Sundried tomatoes, chopped (in oil or in a bag, doesn’t matter)
• Whole cloves of garlic
• Fresh sprigs of rosemary plus other fresh herbs as desired
• Dried red pepper flakes
• Italian seasoning
• Extra virgin olive oil

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Instructions

1. Get some small wide-mouthed jars. Cut up the feta into 1/2 inch cubes. Chop up some sundried tomatoes into small bits.
2. Peel the garlic cloves and smash them with the side of your knife to release the flavor. Place a clove of garlic in each jar. Cover the bottom of the jar with a single layer of cheese cubes. Add a sprig or two of rosemary, a sprinkle of sundried tomatoes and a basil leaf (or other fresh herb) plus 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning. Sprinkle lightly with red pepper flakes.
3. Add another layer of cheese cubes. Sprinkle again with a few herbs and the pepper flakes if desired. Once the jar is full of cheese cubes, pour olive oil over to fill the jar. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 2 – 3 hours to let the flavors blend, then put the jars in the fridge.

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Notes

Prep time will naturally vary depending on how many jars you are making! But it really is quite quick and simple to put together.

MAKE SURE TO STORE THE JARS IN THE FRIDGE!- and tell your gift recipients the same.

The FDA recommends storing oil with raw garlic in the fridge for no more than a week. For safety, store your marinated cheese in the freezer if you want to keep it more than a week. Other options are to saute the garlic before adding it or use freeze dried minced garlic.

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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This recipe was shared at Foodie Friends Friday, Sweet & Savory Sunday and The Hearth & Soul Bloghop.