Strawberries and cream have long been a dreamy combination. But did you know that strawberries and cheese can also be splendidly combined?
In this case, though, they are not served at the end of the meal for dessert. They are served at the beginning as a summer appetizer, and today’s three recipes showcase that.
In the first one, I’ve contrasted the sweet, fruity and beguiling taste of a fresh-picked local strawberry with a tangy and creamy blue mousse. It’s made by blending blue cheese with cream cheese and a touch of butter until light and smooth.
In this form, the mousse is something you can pipe and stuff into a strawberry, after hollowing it out a bit at the stem end. Once stuffed, the strawberry is topped with a sprinkling of chopped nuts to create a pretty and palate-awakening appetizer.
For the second appetizer, I topped crostini, thin toasted rounds of bread, with fresh and spreadable goat cheese. On top of the cheese go some sliced and marinated strawberries. These eye-catching little bites are then garnished with small mint or basil leaves and are ready to serve to your guests.
My third appetizer is made by threading marinated bocconcini cheese on skewers with rolled pieces of silky, salty prosciutto, a basil leaf and a whole, stemmed strawberry. Just before serving, the skewers are drizzled with a little balsamic crema, giving them a dramatic look without much fuss.
Blue Cheese Mousse-stuffed Strawberries with Nuts
This summer appetizer features sweet, local strawberries stuffed with a rich and tangy blue cheese mixture.
Preparation: 25 minutes
Cooking time: none
Makes: 16 stuffed strawberries
3.5 oz. (100 grams) blue cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup spreadable cream cheese, at room temperature
1 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
16 large, local strawberries (mine were about three-centimetres wide)
2 Tbsp unsalted, shelled pistachios or walnut pieces, chopped
Crumble the blue cheese into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle. Add the cream cheese and butter. Vigorously beat until a smooth and light mixture has been created where the blue cheese has been completed blended. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula as needed during this process.
Transfer the cheese mixture to a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Trim some of the pointed end of each strawberry so they’ll sit standing up as shown in the photograph. Now use a small melon baller or tiny spoon to remove the stem from each strawberry and create a well about one centimetre deep into which you can pipe the blue cheese mixture.
Stand the berries on a serving platter. Now pipe blue mixture into each strawberry, mounding it over the top of each berry. Top the blue cheese mixture on each strawberry with some of the chopped nuts.
Refrigerate the stuffed strawberries for 30 minutes to firm up the mixture, then cover with plastic wrap until ready to serve. Can be prepared two to three hours before serving. Let warm at room temperature 15 minutes or so before serving.
Marinated Strawberry and Goat Cheese Crostini
Make these colourful bites by topping crostini with tangy, spreadable cheese and a marinated strawberry mixture.
Preparation: 25 minutes, plus marinating time
Cooking time: About nine minutes
Makes: 16 crostini
For the crostini
16 (one-centimetre) slices of baguette (see Note)
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
For the topping
16 small- to medium-sized local strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp orange juice
1/2 to 1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
200 grams soft goat cheese
• 16 small fresh mint or basil leaves
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Set baguette slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the bread with 2 Tbsp oil.
Bake eight to nine minutes, or until lightly toasted. Toasted bread can be made a few hours before needed. Cover and keep at room temperature until ready to top.
For the topping, place the first six ingredients listed for it in a shallow bowl and gently toss to combine. Cover and let strawberries marinate at room temperature 20 minutes.
Spread each crostini with goat cheese, and set on a serving platter. Top the cheese on each crostini with some of the strawberry mixture. Garnish each crostini with mint or basil and serve.
Note: To get bite-sized crostini, choose a baguette that’s not too wide. The one used for this recipe was about seven-centimetres wide.
Strawberry, Prosciutto and Bocconcini Skewers
The balsamic crema drizzled on to the appetizing, no-cooking-required skewers is a sweet and tangy, reduced balsamic vinegar. Some makers also call it balsamic vinegar reduction or glaze. You’ll find it for sale at specialty food stores and in the deli or vinegar aisle of supermarkets.
Preparation: 25 minutes, plus marinating time
Cooking time: none
Makes: 14 skewers
7 bocconcini cheese, drained well (see Note)
2 Tbsp orange juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
7 paper thin-slices of prosciutto, each cut in half lengthwise
14 small- to medium-sized local strawberries, hulled
14 (6-inch) wooden skewers
2 Tbsp balsamic crema, or to taste
Cut each bocconcini in half and set in a small bowl. Add the juice, oil and pepper and mix to combine. Refrigerate and marinate bocconcini one to two hours.
Roll each half slice of prosciutto into a loose cylinder. Now slide a piece of the rolled prosciutto, a half piece of bocconcini, a basil leaf and a strawberry on each skewer.
Set the skewers on a serving platter or board. Drizzle each skewer with a little balsamic crema, and serve.
Note: The bocconcini used in this recipe are sold in the deli selection of most supermarkets. The 180-gram tub of Salerno brand bocconcini I bought yielded the seven balls required for this recipe.
Eric Akis is the author of The Great Rotisserie Chicken Cookbook (Appetite by Random House). His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
