Pastry

• 375 ml (1½ cups) cake flour

• 75 ml (5 tbsp) cold butter, cubed

• 100 ml finely grated Indezi River Creamery Kinati (cow’s milk pecorino-style) or Nandi (goat’s milk cheddar) cheese

• 10 ml (2 tsp) chopped fresh rosemary

• 1 x 100 g Indezi River Creamery Caprini (soft goat’s milk cheese), plain

• 1 egg, beaten

Filling

• 15 ml (1 tbsp) olive oil

• 2 red onions, cut into thin wedges

• 125 g button mushrooms, quartered

• 5 ml (1 tsp) chopped fresh rosemary

• 1 x 100 g Indezi River Creamery Caprini (soft goat’s milk cheese), cracked black pepper, crumbled

• Handful of small rocket leaves for garnish

   

Instructions

1. Pastry: Place flour, butter, pecorino or cheddar cheese and rosemary in a food processor and blend until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add goat’s cheese and egg and mix until it forms a ball soft of pastry.
2. Gently shape pastry into a circle the size of a side plate, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight.
3. Filling: Meanwhile, heat a thin layer of oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry onions until soft. Spoon out and set aside.
4. Sauté mushrooms in the same pan until golden brown. Return the onions to the mushrooms and add the rosemary. Spoon out and allow to cool.
5. Preheat the oven to 200 °C and lightly grease a 12-hole muffin pan.
6. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 2 mm. Cut pastry in 12 even-sized squares of about 5 cm x 5 cm. (See tip for any leftover pastry.)
7. Shape pastry squares into each opening of the muffin pan, lightly pressing down to form a cup. The cups will have a rustic look, with the pastry sticking over the edge of each hole. Prick the base of each pastry cup with a fork. Line each cup with a small square of baking paper or foil and fill with dried beans or dried rice to blind bake them.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Remove the beans or rice and paper or foil and allow cups to cool.
9. Mix the goat’s cheese into the onion and mushroom mixture and fill each cup with the filling. Garnish with rocket leaves.

Tips:

1. Slice any pastry offcuts into strips, prick with a fork and bake as above, to create delicious cheese sticks.