Cheese is a versatile ingredient and can be used to cook up different evening snacks like a tart or a cheese potato stick.
Chef Ranveer Brar, who is also a brand ambassador of GO Cheese, Theo’s head chef Gaurav Wadhwa and head chef of Mystery of Spice Anvesh share some quick and easy recipes:
* Cheese Tomato Chutney Bread Tart
Ingredients
For the tart
* 10 to 15 fresh bread slices
* Soft butter
For filling
* Two cups tomatoes cut into small diced
* One fourth teaspoon kalonji/ nigella seeds
* 5-6 basil leaves
* One tablespoon garlic, chopped
* One tablespoon jalapeno pepper, chopped
* One tablespoon olive oil
* Two tablespoons smoked paprika cheese spread
Method: For the tartlet cases, remove the crust from the slices. Roll each slice with a rolling pin. Press the rolled slices into the cavities of a muffin tray which is lightly greased with butter. Brush with melted butter and bake in a hot oven at 230 degree Celsius for 8- 10 minutes or until crisp.
For the filling, heat olive oil in the frying pan and add kalongi, chopped garlic and saute until garlic turns light brown. Now add tomatoes and basil. Cook until tomatoes turns soft. Adjust seasoning and add jalapeno pepper.
Now, put a little filling in each tartlet case. Sprinkle a little cheese spread over it. Top with some basil leaves and serve hot.
* Chutney Cheese Potato Sticks
Ingredients
* Two cups potato, boiled mashed
* Three-four bread slices, soaked and mashed salt as required
* One tablespoon coriander leaves, chopped
* Four-five cheese chutney slices
For binding
* Half cup thick maida batter
* Half cup breadcrumb
Method: In a mixing bowl add potato mashed, soaked bread slices, salt and coriander leaves. Mix well. Now make long pattie and stuff it with one cheese slice. Make six-seven like the same. Keep them into the freezer for one hour. Now, remove all the pattie from a freezer and first coat them into maida batter and then roll them into breadcrumbs. Deep fry patties into hot oil until turn golden brown. Remove on absorbent paper. Serve immediately.
* Masala onion cheese rings
Ingredients
* Two large white onions
* Three-four slices peri peri cheese slices
* One teaspoon red chilli powder
* One teaspoon salt
For coating
* One cup refined flour
* Half cup corn flour
* One cup breadcrumbs
* Half ltr Oil, for frying
Method: Peel and cut onions into one-centimeter rings, then separate the rings. Cut four even strips of cheese slices. Marinate the onion rings with little oil, salt, and chilli powder. Place the smaller onion ring in the middle of a larger one. Fill the gap between the rings with the strips of cheese.
Now repeat the same for the remaining onion rings and freeze them for an hour. Now for the tempura batter, mix the refined flour and corn flour add water and form a lump free batter. Heat oil in a pan over high flame. Take out the rings and dip them in tempura batter. Coat them in breadcrumbs. Once the oil gets hot, fry the rings for two minutes or until golden brown. Remove on a paper towel to drain out the excess oil.
Note: Do not fry for too long as the cheese may ooze out.
* Mozzarella Cardoza
Ingredients
* One ball fresh mozzarella
* Four slices white bread, crusts trimmed
* Two large eggs, beaten, or more as needed
* One and a half teaspoon minced garlic
* One heaping teaspoon minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
* Salt and pepper
* Plain bread crumbs, as needed
* Olive oil, for frying
Method: Cut the mozzarella into enough 1/4-inch thick slices to cover two slices of the bread. Reserve the remaining mozzarella for another use. Top the cheese with the remaining two slices of bread, to make two sandwiches, and press down to compact.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, garlic, and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Put the breadcrumbs on a plate. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, pour them in oil to a depth of 1/4-inch. When the oil is hot, dip each sandwich into the egg mixture, dredge in the bread crumbs, and fry, turning once, until crisp and the cheese has melted. Cut each sandwich in half and serve, while still hot, with the marinara sauce on the side for dipping.
* Cheese Balls
Ingredients
* Two cups of cheddar cheese, finely shredded
* Three-four cups of mozzarella, finely shredded
* Three-four cups of Parmesan, finely shredded
* Three jalapeno peppers, diced
* Two eggs
* One teaspoon baking powder
* One-third cup of plain flour
* One teaspoon salt
* Oil for frying
* Onion sauce or sweet chili sauce
Method: To make the balls, combine cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese with two lightly beaten eggs, plain flour, jalapeno peppers and baking powder in a large bowl.
Stir until the mixture comes together, pressing it together if needed. Measure each ball as a scant one tablespoon of the mixture (don’t make them too big because they’ll puff on cooking) and roll into balls.
Deep-fry cheese balls in hot oil, until they turn golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Serve with homemade salsa.