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.
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 to make this broad bean bruschetta. In summer it’s often diced ripe tomatoes; sliced sauteed mushrooms are […]
Savoury Künefe I love the flavours in the pastirma 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 […]
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 a starter. 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. Turkish breakfast is 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 […]
Japanese Cheesecake Pancake 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 […]
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. With a few olives, a chunk of Pecorino or homemade ricotta (see video below), and my favourite […]
Burrata with 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 […]
Olive, Feta or Anchovy Fillo Fingers Just about everything I’ve ever cooked has been inspired by something I’ve eaten before and these fillo fingers are no exception – my friend Janni usually whips these up to serve with drinks when friends gather at his place. They’re so simple they hardly need a recipe, and everyone’s […]
