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Say cheese!

Did you know there are hundreds of varieties of cheese in the world? If you're thinking of cooking with this well-loved (often guilt-inducing) dairy food, here's some inspiration

Recipes by: Anup Pawar, Head Chef, Boulevard Kitchen,
Manzil Downtown Dubai
Burrata and fresh tomato with beetroot crepes
Ingredients
For the crepes:
. 1 cup flour
. 1 cup eggs
. 1 cup milk
. 10 gm salt
. 2 tbsp melted butter
. ½ cup beetroot juice

For the salad:
. 1 fresh ripe tomato
. 150 gm burrata cheese
. 6 fresh basil leaves
. 10 gm basil pesto
. Salt and cracked pepper to taste
. Olive oil, as required

Method    
For the crepes, mix all the ingredients together to make the crepe batter.
Strain the batter and make crepes on a warm crepe machine or on a preheated pan, like you would make a pancake.
Slice the tomato into roundels and season well. Cut the burrata into half and season well.
Place the beetroot crepe in the centre of a plate and arrange the sliced tomato on top. Place the buratta in the centre, lay the fresh basil leaves around, and finish with a quenelle of pesto. Serve.

Rocca Goat's Cheese Salad
Ingredients
. 100 gm goat's cheese

For the salad:
. 30 gm Rocca leaves
. 10 gm zaatar leaves
. 10 gm white onion
. 1 tomato
. 1 cucumber
. 6 pitted black and green olives

For the dressing:
. 50 ml olive oil
. 10 gm sumac powder

Method    
For the salad: refresh the Rocca and zaatar leaves in cold water for 5 mins. Peel and slice the onion and refresh in ice water. Deseed and cut the tomato, julienne style.Cut the cucumber lengthwise.
For the dressing, mix the olive oil and sumac powder together. Set aside.
Cut the goat's cheese into round shapes and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 3 mins, until light golden brown in colour.
Mix the salad with the dressing and arrange it in the centre of a serving plate. Finish with the warm goat's cheese on top.
 
Cheese and Zaatar saj 
Ingredients
For the saj dough:
. 1 kg flour
. 50 gm fresh yeast
. 50 ml milk
. 100 ml corn oil
. 1 tsp sugar
. 1 tsp salt
. 500 ml water

For the stuffing:
. 100 gm grated Akawi cheese
. 300 gm grated mozzarella cheese
. 50 gm grated halloumi cheese
. 50 gm dry zaatar with olive oil

Method
For the stuffing, mix all the cheeses together.
Make a soft dough by combining the ingredients for the dough. Make into balls (80 gm each) and allow to rest till the dough rises, approx. 20 mins.
Roll the dough out thinly and cook halfway on a big non-stick pan.
Spread with zaatar with oil. Place the cheese on the top. Close the bread and cook till crispy. Cut into small pieces and serve with fresh zaatar salad.

Baked Penne Pasta
Ingredients
For the pasta:
. 500 gm penne pasta
. 30 gm salt
. Water, as needed
. Parmesan cheese, grated, to garnish

For the sauce:
. 50 gm carrot
. 25 gm celery
. 25 gm leeks
. 15 gm garlic
. 10 gm tomato paste
. 500 gm fresh tomato
. 250 gm peeled tomato
. Olive oil, as needed
. Basil, as needed
. Salt and pepper to taste
. Sugar to taste

Method
For the pasta, boil water in a pan, and add salt.
Blanch the pasta for 10 mins in the boiling water; drain and toss with some oil, so that it doesn't get sticky.
For the sauce, heat oil in a pan, add the carrot, celery, leeks and garlic, and cook until soft.
Add the tomato paste and sauté well to bring out the colour.
Add the fresh tomato and simmer for 30 mins.
Add the peeled tomato from the can; simmer for 20 mins.
Blend the sauce in a blender; add basil and season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste.
Toss the pasta and the sauce together, till well combined.
Add grated Parmesan cheese on top and pop it into the oven for 5 mins so that it gets a lightly browned crust.
Garnish the gratin dish with fresh basil leaves.

Kunafa
Ingredients
For the dough:
. 30 gm Kunafa dough

For the filling:
. 1.2 kg mozzarella
. 500 gm Akawi cheese
. 300 gm fresh cream

For the sugar syrup:
. 500 gm sugar
. 150 ml water
. 20 ml rose water
. 50 gm cinnamon stick
. 20 ml lemon juice

Method        
Boil all the ingredients for the sugar syrup together for 10 mins.
Cover the Kunafa dough with a wet cloth to ensure it doesn't dry out.
For the filling, wash the mozzarella and Akawi cheese twice, then strain and squeeze well to drain completely, before adding to a bowl.
Use your hands to mix the cheese till smooth, then pour in 3tbsp of sugar syrup and continue mixing. (The rest of the syrup can be poured on the kunafa in the end, depending on the sweetness desired.)
After that, pour in the fresh cream and mix by hand until smooth and set aside.
Lay out the kunafa dough, stuff the filling into the dough and close the dough around the filling. Place on a preheated baking tray and bake at 220°C for 6 mins, then reduce the temperature to 190°C and bake for another 6 mins.
Remove from the oven, cut and serve.

Passion cheesecake
Ingredients
. 2.6 kg cream cheese
. 640 gm sugar
. 1.05 L cream
. 12 gm vanilla pods

For the passion jelly:
. 200 gm passion purée
. 20 gm sugar
. 6 gm gelatine    

For the crumble:
. 500 gm Digestive biscuits
. 50 gm sugar
. 10 gm lemon juice
. 30 gm butter
        
Method
For the cheese batter, mix the cream cheese with the sugar and vanilla pods until smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl, and mix again until the batter is smooth.
Set the mixer on low speed and pour in the cream. Keep mixing at the same speed for about a minute to get the texture right.
For the passion jelly, weigh out the passion purée and boil with sugar. Take off the heat and add the gelatine. Set aside to cool.
For the crumble, crush the Digestive biscuits and pour in the sugar, lemon juice and butter. Mix well.
Line the butter paper in a mould, place the crumble at the base, rest inside chiller for 10 mins. Pour the cheesecake mixture and chill again for a further 20 mins. Pour over the passion fruit jelly and rest for 15 mins in the chiller till set. Serve.