Today I’m veering off into the land of food again, but this time with a recipe. This is the easiest summer lunch or appetizer there is – though I have made it at any time of year! However, the combination of goat cheese, tomato and basil is perfect for summer evening.

I first go this recipe in the Friends cookbook (yes, there was a cookbook from the t.v. show), and over the years it has taken on variations as I’ve made it. I honestly have no idea how close I am to the original anymore as I haven’t looked at it since the first time I made it.

I’ve made them twice in the last week or so, and the other day I started taking pictures of the process for my Instagram stories, so I thought I would share the recipe here.

Disclaimer: I am not a chef and this is not a formal recipe. Think of it more as a tutorial as this is something I make without paying too much attention to the amount of the ingredients. If you try it, know that it makes enough for at least 4-6 people (probably more, but my family is a hearty bunch of eaters!) depending on how much bread you use.

First off, the ingredients. Now, I don’t have any measurements here. I just kind of wing it every time. However, you need goat cheese, heavy cream, tomato, basil, garlic and bread.

First, cut up the bread. This will depend on what kind of bread you’re using. We had sliced sourdough so we just cut those slices in half, but I’ve done this with thinner baguette slices as well. Place those slices on a baking sheet and toast them in an oven. I like them to be still a little bit soft on the inside with toasty outsides, but again this is completely up to your personal preference.

Once the toast comes out of the oven, take whole cloves of garlic (peeled) and just rub the garlic over the warm toast. This creates a really amazing layer of extra garlicky flavor. Not a garlic fan? Leave it off! I personally have never tried it without the garlic, but I’m sure it’s just a good.

Place the goat cheese in a bowl with some heavy cream and mash it with a fork until it becomes spreadable. Again, I don’t really measure how much I need, I just add the cream slowly until is creates the creamy texture. If you’re not a goat cheese fan, I have also used cream cheese for this step and, once, a mixture of both.

Spread the goat cheese mixture on the bread, garlic side up. Then, place a slice of tomato on each one. At this point I like to salt the, before putting a leaf of basil on top of each one. Another option is to cut dice the tomato and cut the basil into small pieces and make a mixture with a little olive oil, but the lazy man version is to just do the slices. I’ve done both and it’s equally delicious.

And that’s that! It really is the easiest thing to make, and these disappear like crazy once they hit the table.