Recipe: whipped Sharpham cheese with candied walnuts, beetroot, basil & rye crisps

12th April, 2018

A delicious recipe that incorporates Sharpham Cheese...

Serves 4

240g Sharpham Cremet goats' cheese

25ml double cream

100g walnuts

50g caster sugar

1 purple beetroot

150g mixed baby heritage beetroots

1 small bunch of basil

4 thin slices of seeded rye bread

good olive oil

salt and pepper

Remove the rind from the cheese, break up and put into a bowl with the cream. Whip lightly with a whisk to loosen the mixture and remove any lumps, then chill in fridge.
For the walnuts, place the sugar and a splash of water in a pan and place on a medium heat. When a thick syrup is formed, remove from the heat, add the walnuts and a pinch of sea salt and stir with a wooden spoon until the syrup crystallises and you are left with the nuts covered in a snowy dust. Allow to cool and then pulse in a food processor until you get a roughly chopped consistency.
Boil the purple beetroot until tender (20-35 mins depending on size). Once cooked, peel and dice into small cubes, dress with olive oil, salt and pepper and set aside.
Boil the baby beetroots in salted water for 8-10 minutes, then peel, halve and roast for a further 10 minutes at 180^oC.
Put the basil in a food processor with a little olive oil and whizz up to make the basil oil. Reserve a couple of leaves for garnish.
Drizzle the rye bread with olive oil and place in the oven for 5 minutes to dry out and make the crisps.
To serve, take a spoonful of the whipped cheese and roll in the walnuts until covered. Place some of the cubed beetroot in a line on the plate, arrange the roasted baby beetroots on the side and place the ball of cheese in the middle. Drizzle with the basil oil and garnish with basil leaves and the rye crisps