Baked goat’s cheese wrapped in walnut pastry with fig relish

Name: Baked goat’s cheese in walnut pastry recipe with fig relish
Yield: 6-8
Ingredients: 2 small goat’s cheese rounds (about 100g/31⁄2oz each); 70g/21⁄2oz walnuts 70g/21⁄2oz butter; 1 tbsp light brown sugar; 1⁄2 tsp sea salt 140g/5oz/scant 11⁄2 cups; spelt flour 1 egg white; 1 egg yolk, for egg-washing; 6–8 ripe figs, diced (about 400g/14oz); 80g/23⁄4oz/61⁄2 tbsp light brown sugar or golden caster sugar; 2 bay leaves a pinch of chilli flakes; 1 bag rocket, washed in iced water; 6–8 fresh figs, quartered 60g/21⁄4oz roasted walnut halves; a drizzle of olive oil a sprinkling of sea salt

This one can be served at the start of a meal or at the end of it, as a very special cheese course – the nutty, crumbly pastry and the oozy, melting cheese inside make for a timeless combo. You can make the relish here, it’s easy enough, or use any fruity chutney you like. Change the fruit with the seasons – grapes work well, as do poached pears or quince, but figs, of course, are always the best.

3 July 2024

Baked goats cheese in walnut pastry recipe with fig relish

Patricia Niven

From Honey & Co: At Home: Middle Eastern Recipes from our Kitchen by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, published on 5 July in hardback (£26, Pavilion Books). Photography by Patricia Niven.

Recipe notes