Try these at the weekend, they’re a good accompaniment for drinks, something fizzy perhaps. They taste best hot but you can have them all prepped on trays in the fridge ready to slide into the oven as people arrive. A nice idea from two of our very favourite cooks – Sarit Packer & Itamer Srulovich of Honey & Co.
Wine suggestion: a good crémant. For fun we opened the Taille Princess Blanc de Gérard Depardieu by Bouvet-Ladubay, a Chenin Blanc-Chardonnay sparkling from Saumur. We chuckle every time with the liberal use of Gérard’s branding and his portrait on the label and on the capsule. That said it is an excellent crémant and a good match to savoury cheese bites like these.
Harissa & Goat’s Cheese Buns – makes about 20
- 175g self-raising flour
- 100g butter (at room temperature), diced
- 1 egg, lightly whisked and divided into 2 small bowls
- 60g grated pecorino or Parmesan
- 125g ricotta
- 125g soft, young, rindless goat’s cheese
- 30g rose harissa paste
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
Put the flour and butter in a mixer bowl with a paddle attachment and combine to a crumb-like consistency.
Add half the egg and half the grated pecorino or Parmesan, along with the ricotta, goat’s cheese, harissa paste and salt. Mix together to form a soft, pliable dough.
Divide the dough into two pieces and roll each one into a log about 20cm long. Brush each log all over with the other half of the egg.
Mix the rest of the cheese with the cumin seeds and sprinkle over the work surface. Roll the logs in the mixture until coated all over. Put the logs on a try in the fridge to rest for at least an hour or up to 48 hours.
When ready to bake, heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Cut each log into about 10 slices, about 2cm thick, and lay them on a lined baking tray. Bake for 13-15 minutes until teh cheese is golden but the buns are still soft. Serve hot.
(Original recipe from Honey & Co. At Home by Sarit Packer & Itamar Srulovich, Pavilion, 2018.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 