This is a quick and easy recipe to prepare ahead of time and keep in the fridge for unexpected guests. Use a very good olive oil and try experimenting with different flavourings such as sun-dried tomatoes and dried chillies, or with flavoured oils. For this I used a lemon-flavoured oil.
TO DRINK: Try a chilled glass of Monis Pale Dry Sherry. Its intense aroma will stand up to the spicy flavours of the dukkah, while its crisp acidity will cut through the creaminess of the cheese.
Marinated goat's cheese with dukkah and pretzels
Ingredients
- DUKKAH
- 60ml (¼ cup) sesame seeds
- 30ml (2 tbsp) coriander seeds
- 15ml (1 tbsp) cumin seeds, toasted
- 5ml (1 tsp) black peppercorns
- 5ml (1 tsp) salt
- 15ml (1 tbsp) pecan nuts, pistachio nuts or walnuts
- 15ml (1 tbsp) hazelnuts, skinned
- MARINATED GOAT’S CHEESE
- 150g soft goat’s cheese log
- 50ml lemon-pepper seasoning
- 300ml good-quality olive oil or
- lemon-infused olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- peel of 1 lemon
- pretzels, to serve
Instructions
To make the dukkah, toast all the ingredients together in a dry frying pan until the seeds pop, taking care not to scorch the spices or they will become bitter. Transfer to a spice grinder and whiz until coarsely crushed, or crush in a pestle and mortar. Store in a sealed container until ready to use.
For the marinated goat’s cheese, cut the cheese into chunks and roll each chunk into a ball.
Arrange the balls in a glass jar with the rest of the ingredients, ensuring that all the balls are well covered. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Serve the dukkah and cheese balls with pita bread or pretzels.
COOK’S TIP
Instead of dukkah you could roll the cheese balls in herbs, black pepper, toasted sesame seeds or chopped nuts.
