Figs, pears, stilton & berries
A heap of fresh fruit and some stinky cheese. These are a few of my favourite things.
You know what it’s like. You’re wafting about the market, picking up fresh fruit because it all looks so good. Juicy and soft fresh figs, plump grapes and glistening berries in crates – it’s all just too tempting!
And then you pass the guy handing out samples of cheese – probably my favourite part of any market. Before you know it, a lump of that cheese has joined the fruit in your basket.
Now, what to do with it all?
A fruit and cheese plate is the obvious avenue to head down. Just add some bread or crackers and you’re in business.
I wanted to step it up a notch, this time.
I’m often roasting green grapes when they’re in season. They’re the most perfect addition to salads, especially when you roast them with fresh thyme. Sweet, savoury and oh-so juicy.
To get more colour onto the plate, I blitzed the blackberries into a smoothie-type concoction with buttermilk and yoghurt. A little tart and slightly sweet – a nice match to the creamy and pungent stilton that also comes to the party.
Eating it all together is an absolute joy – a perfect snack on its own or easy, sweet ending to a lunch or dinner.
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servings
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- 180 g green grapes
- 1 tsp virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 80 g blackberries plus extra to garnish
- 70 g greek yoghurt (¼ cup)
- 160 ml buttermilk (½ cup)
- ½ tsp sugar
- 4 Fresh figs cut in half
- Black corinth grapes
- 4 seckel pears cut in half
- Stilton cheese
- Herbs & edible flowers to garnish
Ingredients
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- Preheat the oven to 220°C.
- Get your green grapes, olive oil, balsamic and thyme leaves into a small ovenproof dish. Toss the ingredients to coat all the grapes, then bake for 30 minutes - stirring a couple of times during cooking.
- Set aside to cool before using.
- Put the blackberries, yoghurt, buttermilk and sugar into a blender or processor and blitz until smooth. Alternatively use a stick blender. You can sieve the mixture if you like, but it isn't necessary.
- To assemble, spoon the smoothie into the base of 4 small serving dishes. Lay the halved pears in the centre, then lean the fig halves against them.
- Arrange the black corinth grapes and stilton around (as much or as little as you want), then garnish with herbs and flowers.
