We are now a few days into the new year but our fridge is still well stocked with festive leftovers. As we are big cheese lovers we ensured we had enough to get us through the holiday season and then we were given yet more by a generous friend. We’ve made a pretty impressive dent in our supplies but the cheese drawer in the fridge is still pretty full.

 

There are of course many things to do with spare cheese besides just nibbling it with bread or crackers. Melted into cream it can make a quick and easy sauce for pasta or gnocchi (gnocchi with blue cheese sauce is great on a cold winter’s evening with a glass of red). If you have leftover root vegetables you can make a cheesy, creamy gratin. If you’re still making well stuffed sandwiches with your Christmas leftovers why not add a generous helping of cheese and turn them into a hot, gooey toasty?

If you are tiring of eating from the same blocks of cheese or you find yourself with a few scrappy ends of different cheeses you can repurpose them by mixing them together with other tasty ingredients to make a spreadable potted cheese. You can go the classic English route, mixing the cheese with softened butter to achieve a spreadable consistency then seasoning with mustard, cayenne, mace and maybe a little sherry or brandy. 

There is also the French approach, which I used today: fromage fort, where the cheeses are typically blended with wine, garlic and herbs to produce a soft, full flavoured spread. The recipe will be different every time depending what spare cheese you have on hand – simply experiment with the seasonings until you achieve a result you like.

Fromage Fort

8oz mixed cheeses (I used the leftover ends from some cheese from Christmas: approximately 4oz cheddar, 2oz of a hard goats cheese and roughly 1oz each of Brie and Stilton)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup dry white wine 

2 tbsp heavy cream (optional)

1/4 tsp dried thyme

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt (optional)

Crumble or grate any hard cheeses and roughly chop the softer ones. Put in a food processor with the garlic and white wine and blitz together.

How chunky or smooth you want it is down to personal preference. I like the different cheeses to be  well blended so tend towards a smoother spread. 

Taste it and adjust for seasoning. Depending on the cheeses you use it may not need any additional salt, but a grinding of black pepper is a good idea. You can also add whatever herbs take your fancy. I added some dried thyme but chives or rosemary would also work well.

I also added a little cream to make the spread smoother and balance the flavour. 

Fromage fort will keep in the fridge for at least a month. The flavour will develop as it ages.