Cheese adds flavour, texture and aroma to dishes, whether it’s salty feta crumbled into a salad, oozy melting Swiss gruyere in a sandwich, or ricotta baked into a simple dessert. From making simple fresh cheese to dishes using a vast range of European, Asian and Australian cheeses, here are some of my favourite cheese recipes.
Mushroom & Cheese Pies Thanks to chef Simon Sandall who rattled off this suggestion on the spur of the moment when we were making beef Wellington together and wondering what to do with leftover mushroom duxelles and pastry off-cuts. You could always make the duxelles specifically for these pies and whip up a larger batch […]
Baked Scamorza with Salami I love cheeses that melt to a lovely soft texture without becoming oily, like Italian scamorza. Baked scamorza is a perfect quick dinner with salad and some sliced salumi. In Italy it’s often topped with prosciutto, but I prefer slices of Salumi Australia’s picante (chilli) or finocchietto (fennel) salami for something […]
Cheese Scones Given scones British heritage, I like to use a good crumbly cheddar in my cheese scones; most of it mixed into the dough and a little saved to sprinkle on top. Depending on your oven, the topping may brown unevenly, so check after 10 minutes and if necessary turn the tray around to […]
Broad Bean Bruschetta Every meal at Lucio’s Paddington restaurant started with bruschetta, a slice of delicious toasted Italian bread, topped with a mound of something seasonal. I love using tender young broad beans during their short spring season; in summer it’s often diced ripe tomatoes; sliced sauteed mushrooms are wonderful in autumn; and in winter […]
Savoury Künefe I love the flavours in the pasirma börek in our Month of Turkish and am impressed by how deliciously easy the sweet kunefe is. So I wondered what would happen if we combined them. Here’s the answer: a simple, crunchy, messy, delicious savoury kunefe! Be inspired to vary the filling. As long as […]
Trofie al Pesto Genovese I love this classic way of serving pesto – with the beans and potatoes cooked in the same water as the pasta it’s more like a main meal than an entrée. This is done with various pasta shapes in Liguria, but the most typical are trenette (a thin flat pasta similar […]
Turkish Breakfast I loved every meal in Turkey – but I think breakfast, kahvaltısı, was my favourite. It was so different from what I grew up with and I never tired of it. Each morning, my travelling companions and I sat down to a plate of chopped cucumber and tomato (so fresh and ripe it […]
The Japanese are masters at taking something from another culture and making it their own – their super-light and springy cheesecake is a great example. It’s sometimes called cotton cake, jiggly cake or soufflé cake because it’s so light and fluffy. I’d heard it’s tricky to master, but thought I’d give it a try for […]
Pane Carasau with Rosemary I love Sardinia’s crisp flatbread, called carta di musica or, in dialect, pane carasau, especially the way chef Giovanni Pilu serves it, sprinkled with olive oil, salt and rosemary and crisped in the oven. Add a few olives, a chunk of Pecorino and your favourite aperitivo (here are mine) – and […]
Burratawith Tapenade I love stretched curd cheeses of every kind – including delicate, creamy burrata, the southern Italian cheese that’s a thin pouch of mozzarella filled with a rich blend of cream and fine strands of stringy fresh curd tied off with a knot. It makes a lovely presentation and, with a touch of tapenade […]
