Marinated Goats’ Cheese in Vine Leaf Parcels

This dish needs to be made with those small, individual goats’ cheeses with a rind. Crotin de Chavignol is a name to look out for.

The vine leaves provide a protective coating, hold in all the marinade flavours and impart a lemony flavour to the cooked cheese. If you are lucky enough to be able to get hold of fresh vine leaves then great, but otherwise use vine leaves that have been vacuum-packed in brine, which are available from most delicatessens and larger supermarkets.

This dish is quite rich (the quantities below will make two small parcels per person) but do double the quantities if you don’t think there’s going to be enough for a main course.

Serves 4

8 large or 16 smaller vine leaves

4 x 100 g (4 oz) individual goats’ cheeses

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 red finger chillies, seeded and finely chopped

2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

12 fresh basil leaves, finely shredded

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

½ teaspoon black peppercorns, coarsely crushed

coarse sea salt

8 small fresh bay leaves

Bruschetta-style Bread here to serve

cocktail sticks soaked in cold water for 30 minutes

If you are using fresh vine leaves, remove the tough part of the stem, drop them into a pan of lightly salted water and cook for about 4 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water. If you are using preserved vine leaves, soak them in hot water, rinse in cold water and drain.

Cut the goats’ cheeses in half horizontally into 2 smaller discs.

Mix the olive oil with the chopped chilli, oregano, basil, garlic, crushed pepper and a little salt.

Place a vine leaf on a plate (overlap 2 if they’re quite small) and put a bay leaf and a little of the marinade into the centre.

Place a disc of goats’ cheese on top, rind-side down, and then spoon over a bit more of the marinade, making sure that lots of the bits are covering the cut face of the cheese. Fold over the sides of the leaves and secure in place with one or more cocktail sticks. Repeat 3 more times.

Place the parcels in a shallow dish, pour over any oil left on the plate and set aside for 1 hour.

Brush the outside of the vine leaf parcels with a little more olive oil if necessary and barbecue over medium-hot coals for about 2½ minutes on each side.

Lift the parcels on to plates, remove the cocktail sticks and fold back the leaves. Serve with the Bruschetta-style Bread here.