Saint Agur is a lesson in measure. Creamy, tangy and balanced, it’s strong enough to make itself known without overpowering. The cheese is luxurious and smooth in a way that’s not always associated with blues. As an all-rounder, it doesn’t get any better. Most of us will eat Saint Agur as part of a cheeseboard at Christmas, but its subtle flavour and versatility make it a dream cheese to work with when cooking. Here are four simple dishes to try – all spruced up with a little Saint Agur.
Beef and Saint Agur patties
Jamaican patties are the perfect snack – ridiculously tasty, moreish and fun to make.
And their signature pastry, yellow with turmeric, is enough to excite the palate of anyone who knows the treat that awaits within those floury walls. They come with myriad fillings, all spicy, comforting and packed with flavour. Dot Saint Agur through the mixture, and the result is satisfying hits of creamy tanginess every couple of mouthfuls that leave you hoping the next bite will reward you with more ...
Prep 45 minutes
Cook 25 minutes
Makes 8 patties
For the pastry
300g plain flour
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp Jamaican curry powder
120g shortening
50g salted butter
1 tbsp cider vinegar
150ml ice-cold water
Salt
1 egg, beaten for egg wash
For the filling
400g beef mince
½ red onion, finely chopped
½ white onion, finely chopped
½ red pepper, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1½ tbsp Jamaican curry powder (or madras curry powder with extra turmeric)
1 tsp ground black pepper
250ml beef or chicken stock
200g Saint Agur, cubed
Salt
To make the pastry, mix the flour, turmeric, curry powder and a pinch of salt in a bowl and grate in the shortening and butter. Handling it as little as possible, move the fat around to coat in the flour mix and then place into a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, add vinegar and then, gradually pour in water until the dough comes together. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate while you cook the filling.
Fry the beef, then add onions, red pepper, garlic, curry powder, black pepper and salt to taste. Cook for 10 minutes, then add stock and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/GM4.
Roll the pastry out to a 3mm thickness. You can do this between two pieces of parchment to avoid sticking and staining your worktop.
Using a bowl or a plate approximately 16cm in diameter as a guide, cut circles out of the pastry. You can re-roll the cut-offs once, but any more and the pastry will become too overworked. Spoon 2 tbsp of the meat mix on to one half of the pastry, leaving a 1-inch gap around the edge. Top with pieces of Saint Agur and push them down.
Brush the edge with egg wash, fold the pastry over and press to secure. Use the teeth of a fork to press down around the full semi-circle edge. Egg wash the top of the patties, and bake for 25 minutes. Leave to cool for 15 minutes before enjoying.
Saint Agur chicken kiev
The chicken kiev is a classic dish for a reason – it’s delicious. Garlicky butter, the crunch of the breadcrumbs – it’s almost unimprovable. Until you add some Saint Agur.
Mix the cheese with the butter, garlic, parsley and a pinch of black pepper, and stuff the chicken breast before coating in breadcrumbs and frying until golden.
And then comes the anticipation before you break through to the delicious juices inside.
Cut through the crispy coating, through the moist meat and release the garlic butter spiked with parsley and creamy Saint Agur. The creaminess of the cheese makes it perfect for this dish. It mixes with the butter creating a smooth, garlicky tangy sauce that will have you chasing around the plate for every last bit. If you thought a chicken kiev was already special, wait until you try this. You’ll never look back.
Prep 25 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
Makes 2 kievs
80g Saint Agur
80g salted butter
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 free-range chicken breasts
100g plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
100g panko breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil, for frying
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/GM4. Mix together the Saint Agur, butter, garlic, parsley, and black pepper. Cut a small slit into the thickest part of the chicken breasts, going in through the top and widening the slit internally while keeping the opening small. Divide the Saint Agur butter mix in half and gently push into each breast without breaking through to the other side. Press to seal the slit, using a wooden toothpick if you want to make sure it won’t leak.
Take three wide bowls, add the flour to one, the eggs to another and put the breadcrumbs in the third. Carefully place one breast in the flour, and cover all over. Then place in the beaten egg, again ensuring it is all covered, and finally coat in the breadcrumbs. Repeat with the second breast. Do the same again with both breasts, using just the eggs and the breadcrumbs. Rest on a plate for 10 minutes.
On a medium setting, heat enough oil in a frying pan so that it will come halfway up the breasts. It’s ready if a breadcrumb placed in it first sinks but rises bubbling after a couple of seconds. Place the breasts into the frying pan, not touching, and fry for 3 minutes or until golden brown. Turn and fry for a further three minutes. Remove and place on a rack in the oven and cook for another 10 minutes.
Serve with a salad.
Vegetable lasagne with Saint Agur
For me a lasagne rich with a meat sauce is great. But in trying to reduce my meat intake, I’ve turned more to vegetable lasagnes, but I often find them lacking in … something.
The addition of Saint Agur elevates this dish. It gives it that much-needed richness and a depth with occasional pops of tangy blue cheese that make you come back for more.
This recipe marries layers of grilled aubergine and courgettes with a rich tomato sauce, all brought together by a creamy ricotta sauce with small pieces of Saint Agur running through.
Once cooked, the lasagne is joyful; the added dimension of bursts of creamy, tangy Saint Agur create a familiar, yet complex and utterly intoxicating dish.
Prep 45 minutes
Cook 45 minutes
Serves 4-6
2 aubergine
3 courgettes
750g lasagne sheets
200g Saint Agur, cubed
Olive oil
For the tomato sauce
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 white onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp oregano
Olive oil
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
Salt and pepper
For the white sauce
1½ pints of milk
300g ricotta
1 egg
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/GM4. Slice the aubergine and courgettes lengthways, and dry fry, preferably on a griddle pan, for 10 minutes turning halfway.
Start the sauce by frying the carrot, celery, onions, garlic and oregano in olive oil until soft. Add tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, salt and pepper to taste, and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes.
For the white sauce, mix together the milk, ricotta, egg, salt and pepper.
Oil a 20cm x 30cm baking dish and ladle in some of the tomato sauce, followed by white sauce. Next add a layer of lasagne sheets, placing them as close as possible without overlapping, breaking sheets to fill in gaps. Then layer on the aubergine and courgette. Follow with more tomato sauce, white sauce, and a sprinkling of Saint Agur. Repeat the layering process with lasagne sheets, aubergine and courgette, tomato sauce, white sauce and Saint Agur until you reach the top of the dish. Your top layer should be tomato and white sauces with Saint Agur sprinkled on top.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until nicely browned and bubbling. Rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Waldorf Saint Agur salad
A salad created at the legendary Waldorf Astoria hotel at the end of the 19th century, the classic Waldorf salad does not contain any blue cheese. But had Saint Agur existed in 1893 – the salad’s birth year – I’m sure its creator would have added in a few chunks.
Already a delight of texture and taste, with leaves, apple, celery and walnuts united by a mayonnaise dressing, it’s at once sweet and savoury, crunchy and crisp.
And with Saint Agur it’s taken up a notch. Scatter pieces of the blue cheese over the finished salad and you’ll find it adds a new dimension. First the creaminess, and then crunch and sweetness of apple, the pop of grapes, the savouriness of celery and finally the tang of Saint Agur that cuts through and brings everything together.
Prep 15 minutes
Serves 4
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp plain yoghurt
Juice of half a lemon
1 crisp red apple, sliced
2 celery sticks, sliced
60g red grapes, sliced in half
60g walnut halves, roughly broken
1 gem lettuce, washed and torn into big pieces
200g Saint Agur, cubed
Salt and pepper, to taste
In a big bowl, mix together mayonnaise, yoghurt, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Gently add in the apple, celery, grapes and walnuts. Finally, add the lettuce and Saint Agur, and gently mix before serving.
Discover delicious ways to enjoy Saint Agur every day
