I’m choosing cheeses for a spring lunch. Mild, milky cheeses to serve with early leaves and shoots – asparagus, wild garlic and young spinach. A soft burrata or mozzarella to marinate with blood orange and coriander seeds; a lump cut from a taleggio, its soft skin the colour of a mushroom cap, to melt with spinach, wild garlic and hot, thick toast. I have a fondness for the delicate, softly spoken cheeses that seem just a short step away from milk.
Back at home, I left the burrata in a dressing of orange zest and juice, crushed coriander seeds, wine vinegar and a few flakes of dried chilli. Once the cheese had taken up a little of the flavours from the marinade, we ate it alongside a spinach and blood orange salad. One wobbly, barely set cheese and a handful of spinach each. The young leaves, their points as sharp as a spear, appeared again in a hastily put together lunch with shoots of wild garlic, the two greens forming a soft pile into which I tucked pieces of taleggio. Once heated the cheese formed pools that spilled down on to the thick hot toast beneath. I caught it just as the cheese started to liquefy, before it had a chance to colour and become chewy.
These cheeses, along with soft, mousse-like goat’s cheeses, are light enough to fold into the eggy clouds of an omelette or to spread straight on to sweet white brioche and top with early strawberries. There is something fleeting about these cheeses, with flavours that are pure and unchallenging. There is a delicate note that makes them candidates for breaking into small pieces and tossing with young peas, fresh from the pot, in lieu of butter. Or how about folding pieces of taleggio or mozzarella into warm steamed rice, so the cheese softens rather than melts, lightly coating the grains. I rather think basil is then called for or chopped leaves of tarragon.
Toasted spinach, wild garlic and taleggio
Taleggio melts particularly easily, but you could use fontina or any soft cheese should you wish. Wild garlic leaves have a short season, so I tend to make the most of them while they are here. I have yet to have any success with planting them in the garden.
Serves 2
spinach 250g, in the bunch
crème fraîche 5 tbsp
grain mustard 1 tsp
garlic leaves 20g
butter a thin slice
sourdough bread 2 thick slices
taleggio 70g
parmesan 20g
Wash the spinach thoroughly and remove the toughest of the stalks. Without shaking the leaves dry, put them into a large saucepan over a moderate heat, covered tightly with a lid.
Let them steam for a minute or two, then turn the spinach over, and continue cooking until the leaves have wilted. Drain and refresh the leaves in iced water. Squeeze the leaves in the palm of your hand to remove as much water as possible, then separate them as best you can. If the leaves are very large, chop them roughly.
Mix together the crème fraîche and mustard in a mixing bowl. Put the spinach in the bowl then fold into the mustard crème fraîche and a little salt and black pepper. Toast the pieces of sourdough until lightly crisp and golden on both sides. Remove the stalks of the garlic leaves and cut them into small dice. Keep the leaves intact. Cook the leaves and chopped stems for a minute or two in the butter, just until the leaves wilt. Remove, drain and stir in the spinach.
Get the oven grill hot. Pile the spinach and garlic mixture on to the toasted bread. Tear the taleggio into large pieces and tuck among the spinach. Grate the parmesan and scatter over the top then grill until the cheese melts but remove from the heat before it turns gold.
Marinated burrata, blood orange salad
Buffalo mozzarella is fine here, too, but use burrata if you can get hold of it, for its texture – which is softer and more fragile.
Serves 2
burrata 150g, or mozzarella
blood orange 1
olive oil 3 tbsp
dried chilli flakes a pinch
red wine vinegar 1 tsp
coriander seeds 1 tsp
asparagus 100g
spinach leaves 60g
blood oranges 2
Make the marinade by grating the zest of the blood orange into a deep container large enough to take the cheeses. Halve the orange and squeeze the juice into the zest. Add the olive oil, the dried chilli flakes and the red wine vinegar. Using a pestle and mortar, lightly crush the coriander seeds and add to the marinade with a coarse grinding of black pepper. Open the cheeses, drain them of their packing liquid then place them in the marinade. Turn them over to coat with the marinade then cover and refrigerate for at least four hours. Turn the cheese over in the marinade every 40 minutes or so.
Make the salad. Peel the oranges taking care to remove all the white pith that lies under the skin. Save as much juice as you can and pour it into a bowl. Pour the marinade from the cheese into the bowl and return the cheeses to the fridge. Trim the asparagus then cut into long thin shavings using a vegetable peeler. Push the asparagus into the marinade. Trim the spinach leaves, toss them in olive oil, a little salt and pepper and divide between two plates.
Slice the blood oranges and place them in the spinach, lift the asparagus from the marinade and pile on to the plates. Place a cheese on each plate and slit it open. Spoon the marinade over the cheese and the salad.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @NigelSlater
