Goat Cheese Tomato Sausage Tart

I grew up about 25 minutes south of where we currently live. However, I played on a club soccer team from the town we currently live in for 3 years in high school. Every day we had practice, I’d get in the car and head “upstate”.

Upstate is a funny term when you live in New York. People from Manhattan consider anything outside the realm of the subway system to be upstate. Long Islanders think the Bronx is upstate. And then there’s the suburbanites living just north of NYC (me) that pretty much put Poughkeepsie as the line of division between “upstate” and “downstate”.

As a teenager, I would quickly correct anyone attempting to label me as an “upstater” as if living among farms, cows, apple orchards and places you could actually still see land for sale rather than cookie cutter subdivisions on every road was the worst offense possible.

Then I grew up and realized that being able to buy grass fed beef, fresh eggs and goat cheese all from places within 10 minutes of my house is actually pretty cool.

The lower taxes aren’t so bad either.

When I got the opportunity to talk about my place worth preserving with Frei Brothers Reserve and Kitchen PLAY, I immediately thought of my favorite farm down the road.

I’m not sure what I’m more in love with at this place, the goats themselves or the delicious cheese they make.

Goats are hysterical if you’ve never been up close and personal with them. In a 2 minute time span of my most recent visit, one was pawing at the fence like she was trying to open it, sticking her head through the opening and nose-butting my phone, licking the lollipop right out of the hand of the toddler standing next to me while her partner stood on top of a dog-house-looking structure in the middle of the pen like there was absolutely nothing odd about that.

I kinda want one.

I grabbed some of their fresh goat cheese after my quick visit with the goats knowing I wanted to showcase it in a tart to go along with the Frei Brothers Reserve Sauvignon Blanc.

Combined with a quick spinach pesto, homegrown tomatoes and a little bit of sweet Italian sausage dotted on top, this is the perfect wine-sipping appetizer or light meal.

The goat cheese tomato sausage tart is tangy from the goat cheese while the sausage sweetens it up a bit and it goes along really well with the light, fruity brightness of the wine.

It’s one of the best ways I can think of to indulge in summer tomatoes while they last.

Try this grilled eggplant caprese or this parmesan tomato gratin for two other delicious summer appetizers as well!

*This is a sponsored post on behalf of Frei Brothers Reserve. All content and opinions are my
own.