Goat Milk

Treat yourself to a Persian feast with this chorizo and goats’ cheese filo pie.

This wonderful combination of smoky, spiced chorizo and cumin-spiked, creamy goat’s cheese is a winner. Nigella seeds are used all around the world but are originally from Southern Asia. Widely used in Indian and Middle Eastern cookery, they have a bitter and peppery taste and are often used in savoury breads.

Chorizo really is such a fantastic ingredient and its capability to deliver bags of flavour to anything it comes into contact with always makes it a crowd-pleaser.

The recipe requires less than 30 mins Preparation time, 1 to 2 hours Cooking time, Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp cumin seeds (toasted)
• 2 x 200g/7oz cured chorizo sausages (not cooking chorizo), skinned and cut into chunks
• 350g/12fl oz rindless soft goats’ cheese, broken into pieces
• vegetable oil, for oiling
• 6 sheets filo pastry (each about 48 x 25cm/19 x10in)
• 1 tbsp full-fat milk or water
• 1 free-range egg, beaten, to glaze
• 1 tsp nigella seeds

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
• Dry fry the cumin seeds in a frying pan until aromatic. Remove from the heat.
• Put the chunks of chorizo into a food processor and process until they are minced as finely as possible. Transfer to a mixing bowl, add the cooled cumin seeds and goats’ cheese and mix together until evenly combined.
• Brush the base of a 24cm/9½in round ovenproof dish or cake tin with a little vegetable oil. Lay a pastry sheet lengthways in the dish or tin with the ends overhanging the sides, then lay another pastry sheet widthways in the same way.
• Divide the chorizo filling in half. Add one half to the filo base and smooth it right to the edges to cover the base evenly.
• Fold another pastry sheet in half to create a double thickness and lay it over the filling, then repeat with a second pastry sheet to form a thick pastry layer.
• Brush the pastry with the milk or water, then top with the remaining filling, pushing and patting it into place to evenly coat the pastry layer. Fold the overhanging pastry into the centre, then gently crumple up the remaining 2 pastry sheets and arrange them on top.
• Brush all the exposed pastry and edges with beaten egg and sprinkle over the nigella seeds. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until deep golden-brown. Serve the borek immediately.

 

 

Chicken wrapped around tomato-basil flavored feta cheese–simple, succulent, and sensational.

 

This recipe requires 15 minutes Preparation time, 30 minutes Cooking time, and Serves 6

 

Ingredients:

 

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 6 ounces tomato basil feta cheese, crumbled
• ¼ cup Italian-style dry bread crumbs, divided

 

Direction:

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.

 

• Place chicken breasts between 2 pieces of waxed paper. Gently pound chicken with flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin until about 1/4 inch thick; remove wax paper. Place 1 ounce of feta cheese in the center of each chicken breast, and fold in half.

 

• Spread 2 tablespoons bread crumbs in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange chicken in the dish, and top with remaining bread crumbs.

 

• Bake 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Each serving provides 224 kcal; protein 32g, carbohydrates 4.6g, fat 7.8g, cholesterol l93.7mg and salt 481mg.

A delightful frittata that will make a great light supper with a green salad and some crusty bread.

 

This recipe requires less than 30 minutes Preparation time, 10 to 30 minutes Cooking time, and Serves 4

 

Ingredients:

 

• 120g/4½oz goats’ cheese, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 400g/14oz new potatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 large red onion, finely chopped
• 8 large free-range eggs
• 100ml/3½fl oz single cream
• ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• handful mint leaves, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 150g/5½oz spinach, roughly chopped
• 12 sage leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Direction:

 

• Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the potatoes with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring for 8–10 minutes. Toss in the red onion and cook for a further 5 minutes.

 

• Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a large bowl. Add the cream, nutmeg, chopped mint and some salt and pepper and whisk well. Set aside.

 

• Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, then toss in the spinach and sauté until it begins to wilt. Pour the cream mixture into the pan, stir around for one minute, then remove from the heat.

 

• Dot the goats’ cheese evenly over the surface of the frittata and scatter over the sage leaves. Place on the top shelf of the oven for 8–10 minutes, or until the egg has set and the cheese is golden.

 

• Remove the frittata from the oven and leave to stand for a few minutes to cool slightly before serving.

 

Each serving provides 481 kcal, 28g protein, 21g carbohydrates (of which 6g sugars), 31g fat (of which 13g saturates), 4g fibre and 1.2g salt.