Creamy Baked Masala

Last night we headed over to Matt and Amy's house-they're a great older (yet STILL young) couple that we've gotten to know, full of laughter and wisecracks, we have a great time together. Amy is one of those supermoms that makes her own jam-pulls her kids slivers out with her teeth-busts a cap in Insanity (with her rockin' bod)-is a Jill of a million trades-teach Sunday school kind of lady, if you know what I mean. And then there's Matt, quiet, but charming, unassuming and quick to laugh-they are a blessing to us both. Shaina and Phil were there too (read my post about Shaina if you haven't already..)

Matt heads down once a year to LA to purchase large mounts of shrimp, straight from the Gulf. I am definitely not a shrimp eater-I've probably only eaten it twice in my life, but I am never one to turn down highly recommended food..the way he prepared it was absolutely delicious!! Coconut oil, butter, Cajun seasonings, dipped in some crazy remaloude, and grilled on wooden skewers-I never ate so many shrimp in my whole life. He said there was plenty because it gets thawed in 5lb blocks!!

Anyways, Amy asked me to bring a little Bengali something, so with having the main dish taken care of, I just thought a side dishy/appatEASER would be appropriate. So this is where baked masala was born.

My cousin had served a baked dip that I had tried with a delicious marinara sauce and goat cheese and I was surprised at how much Indian hints it had to it. She said it wasn't meant to taste like that, but it urged me on to take it a step further and create it specifically with a Bengali flavored intent.

This wasn't anything crazy. Very simple actually, two humble ingredients and a lot of spices. I wasn't trying to impress. Just satisfy.
Turns out I did both. Everyone really loved it and were very kind in telling me so. I served it with mission flour tortillas (I didn't have time to pick up naan or roti) but that is what I will serve next time, but no one seemed to notice. In fact, Amy ran in to get some more of her own tortillas bc I ran out, and everyone was still dipping!

You'll need:
1/2 jar of Dave's Gourmet (DG) Masala Marinara (I picked mine up at D&W)
2 (8oz each) goat cheese
1 tbsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp coriander
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Juice of 1/2 lime (about 1-2 tsp)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a baking dish (I used my banana loaf pan, but you could use any medium size casserole dish) pour goat cheese in. Add spices one by one, making sure to fold it all in with the goat cheese.

Add marinara sauce and continue mixing everything.

Pop in oven covered in tin foil for about 25 minutes.

Serve with naan, roti, plain soft tortillas, fresh veggies, or over rice..