Roasted Butternut, Puy Lentil and Goats' Cheese Salad

A lovely treatment for butternut squash, with the earthiness of the lentils and the tanginess of soft, fresh goat's (or should that be goats' - where does the apostrophe go?  ) cheese to contrast with the sweetness of the squash.  Simply roast chunks of butternut, tossed in olive oil, garlic and seasoning, for 40 minutes until soft and lightly caramelised.  You can either cook the Puy lentils from scratch, or open a pouch of Merchant Gourmet's excellent ready-coooked ones.  Make a nice lemony vinaigrette and add some mustard and lots of chopped parsley to it.  Now toss the cooked squash and lentils in the dressing, adjust the seasoning and pile onto lettuce, watercress or rocket leaves - whatever you have.  Now crumble over a small round of fresh, creamy goat's/s' cheese, scrunch over lots of black pepper and tuck in.  PS. News from hubby, and he's right of course - if you can guarantee the cheese was made from the milk from a single goat, then it would be goat's cheese, but as it is likely to be made from the milk of many goats, then it is goats' cheese.  See, you get a lesson in grammar as well as cooking.

Beetroot and Orange Salad with Goats' Cheese

Beetroot and orange go so well together, and the juice from fresh oranges makes a lovely dressing mixed with some grain mustard and good olive oil.  Lovely fresh Batavia lettuce and watercress arrived in the Riverford box today, and I had beetroot from a delivery the other week.  So, simply boil the beets in their skin until tender, about an hour.  Cut the peel from a couple of oranges (a navel and a blood orange was what I had), saving any escaped juice for the dressing.  Cut some cucumber (also in the box) and slice or crumble a small goats' cheese - as fresh or as whiskery and goaty as you like.  Simply layer it all in a bowl or on a large platter with any other greens you have about (some rocket in our case), whisk up your dressing and pour over.  I meant to make croutons for a crunchy element, but forgot - never mind, still lovely and fresh and light to follow the spicy soup.  If you don't like goats' cheese, lots of others would work - Wensleydale, a good cheddar or even some blue cheese if that rocks your boat.

Roast Butternut, Goats' Cheese and Sage Souffle

Supper really was the highlight of my day today.  Whether that meant that I had had a particularly bad day at work, or just that I am greedy, I'll leave you to decide - a bit of both, if truth be told.  I've wanted to do this recipe, by Sarah Raven, for a while, and as I had some leftover roasted butternut squash in the fridge, today seemed like an ideal opportunity.  So, a bit of mashing of squash, a bit of grating of parmesan and chopping of soft, squidgy goats' cheese, tearing of sage leaves, and beating of egg whites, and we're done.  I made a little 'panade', the classic thick white sauce, as a base, and beat the mashed squash and 3 egg yolks into this along with most of the parmesan and the sage.  Then, I folded the cubed squidgy goats' cheese in along with the egg white, tipped it into a gratin dish lined with butter and more parmesan, and sprinkled the remaining cheese on top.  Twenty minutes later, it emerged from a hot oven all golden, wobbly and crisp.  Dear reader, it was delicious, and the day seems nicer and life more mellow, with a full tum and a fragrant flat!

Bruschetta with Roasted Tomato and Goats' Cheese

A simple starter to accompany our cocktails (see below). Grill slices of ciabatta on a griddle pan, and then spread with fresh goats' (goat's? Pesky apostrophe!) cheese and top with roasted tomatoes that have been chopped after cooking. You can add basil too if you have any, and ground black pepper is essential - in my opinion anyway.

Goats' Cheese Puddings [#76]

Totally delicious little souffles, and so much easier to make than traditional ones, being flourless, so no fannying around with a panade. Of course, I reduced the amount of dairy - 100g of Pant-Ysgawn (great name!) goats' cheese for two, instead of the 200g recommended by Nigel, a blob of yoghurt instead of double cream, and about 3 tablespoons of parmesan, rather than the 100g or so that the original recipe stated. Using 3 eggs as the base, this was plenty for two of us. I also used fresh thyme, which the book calls for, though the online recipe states chives. Baked, as Nigel asks, in a shallow plate, which gives more delicious crust for your bucks. We served this with a salad of pea shoots and asparagus with a lemon, mustard and walnut dressing. Perfect for a warm spring night. By the way, this recipe has an immaculate pedigree, originating from Alice Waters' Chez Panisse in California, via Sally Clarke's Clarke's restaurant in Notting Hill, London (where we are dining this weekend - hooray!).