Goat Cheese-Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a small bowl, mix together shredded Manchego, goat cheese, smoked paprika, thyme and salt. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Start with the listed amount of thyme but you can add up to double this amount if desired.

Use one hand to open up the piquillo peppers and use a butter knife to stuff the filling into each pepper. Place on an un-greased, rimmed baking sheet.

On the same baking sheet, or another if you don’t have room, place the sliced ciabatta. Drizzle the ciabatta with a touch of olive oil.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the toast is toasty and the pepper filling is hot. Remove from oven, place 1 pepper onto 1 piece of toast and serve immediately!

Notes:
1. Filling can be made in advance, but I’d allow it to come back to room temperature for easy filling!
2. My loaf was too wide, so each slice made two pieces of “toast”. Your bread should be about the size of the pepper.