Soft and Fresh Cheese are right here, with cheese recipes to help inspire you and your cheese platters!
Want to know how to make a cheese platter for your party or entertain with one of our many cheese recipes? With Flavour tips and cheese recipe ideas you cheese platter or entertaining menu is sure to please.
From creamy and soft to firm and crumbly, these cheeses have a distinctive bouquet with varying coloured veins; grey blue to green, royal blue and even black.
With wildly individual and complex flavour profiles (creamy, tangy, salty, spicy, peppery) these cheeses are definitely worth discovering! As well as Gorgonzola, variants of Roquefort and Blue Stilton offer some amazing flavours.
Ricotta Cheese
Ricotta gets its name from the Italian word for ‘re-cooked’ and was originally made from the whey left over from Mozzarella cheese making. Soft and supple, Ricotta is generally strained into a basket mould to form a dome-shaped wheel. At its best, Ricotta’s subtle taste should remind you of freshly cooked scrambled eggs. It is best bought fresh from the wheel and used within a day or two.
Ricotta Cheese
Perfect for Desserts
For a sweet twist try with honey, chocolate, fresh fruits in syrup, and berries in liqueur for a delightful dessert. Don’t forget a glass of Cointreau to wash it down
1.
Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
2.
Ricotta & Rocket Gnocchi with Warm Tomato Olive Sauce
For more Ricotta Cheese recipes visit our
Recipe and Cooking site.
Goat's Milk Cheese
Cheeses derived from goat’s curd have been made in farmhouses and mountain villages throughout the Middle East and Europe for
millennia. Very soft, the milk is curdled, strained and salted. It should exhibit a clean, fresh almost citric flavour. Like many cheeses, goat’s milk varieties are very versatile. Soft textured cubes drenched in garlic-infused extra virgin olive oil, spices and fresh herbs are delicious served with roasted vegetables and salads. Or with antipasto and fresh crusty bread.
1. spinach, Cherry and Goat's Cheese Salad
2. Pumpkin & Goat’s-cheese Puree
For more Goat's Cheese recipes visit our Recipe and Cooking site.
Gorgonzola Cheese
From the Italian regions of Lombardi and Piedmont, this musky, aromatic and tangy variety is thought to be the world’s first blue cheese. It dates back to the year 879. Gorgonzola is laid out in large, drum-like moulds traditionally made out of thin, wooden, slats and left to mature between 3–6 months. With a natural rind, a creamy body and rich, bluish-grey veins throughout, Gorgonzola is available in your Coles Cheese Shop in the stronger ‘picante’ and sweeter ‘dolce’ varieties.
Bored with Pasta?
Toss blue cheese with cream through hot pasta with bacon, baby spinach leaves and toasted walnuts. Or try our
Chicken, Asparagus and Gorgonzola Cheese Risotto
For more subtle, whiter cheeses try a Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc from Nepenthe. Fortified wines such as Penfold’s Club Tawny Port offer the perfect foil for stronger, crumbly blues.
‘Pasta Filata’ or stretched curds are what make the stretchy texture of Mozzarella cheese loved all over the world. With its smooth elastic skin and an interior of many layers, Mozzarella’s texture (traditionally derived from buffalo milk) traps, absorbs and intensifies juices between its layers of curd. From pure white Buffalo balls to yellow, bouncy, cow milk blocks suitable for your favourite Pizza, Mozzarella is rich in calcium, high in protein and low in fat.
Mozzarella & Caramelised Onion Risotto Cheese Cakes, or try a touch of summer with taste of a fresh Mozzarella with juicy sun ripened tomatoes, freshly ripped basil leaves and a drizzle of South Australian extra virgin olive oil.
A white velvety rind, creamy interior, coupled with mushroomy, earthy flavours characterise these very popular cheeses. The colour of the ‘paste’ or the interior varies due to the milk type. It’s stark white when made from goat’s milk but a buttery yellow when made from Guernsey or Jersey cow milk.
1.
Roast Turkey with Brie Cheese, Walnut & Cous Cous Stuffing
2.
Beetroot and Camembert Cheese Salad
Camembert and Brie cheeses, uncooked, these cheeses are at their best served at room temperature. If you’re in the mood for wine, Annie’s Lane Chardonnay is a terrific choice.
Washed Rind cheeses have been made in Europe since the middle ages by monks who created them to replace meat during fasting periods. Washed Rinds combine the beauty of a pale orange coat with luscious golden centres and a wonderfully wild aroma. Washed Rind cheeses are dampened, scrubbed and bathed in brine and other liquids such as wine, cider and beer. The addition of natural cultures encourages surface growth, which gives the sticky, orange touch.