Warm pear, gorgonzola and pecan tartlets with maple drizzle

A cheese course and dessert rolled into one.

Serves 6

375g ready-rolled puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten
200g gorgonzola
4 tbs double cream
cayenne pepper
75g shelled pecan nuts or walnuts
2-3 ripe pears
6 tsp maple syrup

Preheat oven to 220°C/Gas 7.

Take the pastry out of the fridge and leave to warm up a little for 10-15 minutes.

Unroll the pastry, cut it in half horizontally, then cut each of the halves into 3 to make 6 equal-sized pieces. With the tip of a sharp knife, score round each of the squares about 1.5cm from the edge to make a border. Lightly brush the border with beaten egg, taking care not to brush over the cut you've made (otherwise the pastry won't puff up around the edge of the tartlets).

Put the gorgonzola in a bowl and break up roughly with a fork, then stir in the cream. Season with a little cayenne pepper and spread over the bases of the tartlets, taking care not to cover the border. Roughly break up the pecan nuts and divide among the tartlets.

Peel, core and quarter the pears, cut each quarter into 3 wedges and lay them in slices on top of the cheese and nuts.

Drizzle a teaspoonful of maple syrup over each tart and bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is well browned and puffed up. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Labneh with herbs, raw vegetables and flatbread

Cheese is surprisingly easy to make. This is a Middle Eastern version that simply requires some yoghurt, salt and a muslin cloth. Depending on how long you let the cheese drain, you can create a soft, spreadable, dunkable cheese or a slightly firmer one that you can roll into balls.

Serves 4–6

For the cheese:

a large square of muslin kitchen string
2 large 450g-500g pots natural, full-fat unsweetened yoghurt
1 scant tsp fine sea salt

To serve:

extra-virgin olive oil
2 heaped tbs chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, coriander and mint leaves
strips of raw carrot, cucumber and celery
black and green olives
Sardinian crisp flatbread and warm pitta bread strips

Lay the square of muslin over a large bowl. Mix together the yoghurt and salt, then tip carefully into the lined bowl. Pull the edges of the muslin square together and tie securely with kitchen string to form a bundle. Hang over the bowl or the sink and leave for about 12-16 hours.

If using straightaway, tip the drained cheese from the muslin into a bowl and make a shallow dip in the centre. Drizzle over some olive oil, scatter with the chopped herbs and serve with the raw vegetables, olives and flatbread. If you are eating it later, you can store it in the fridge in a covered bowl or box for up to 36 hours.

Parmesan custards with anchovy toasts

This is probably one of the most popular recipes of the past year since Rowley Leigh added it to the menu of his London restaurant, Le Café Anglais.

Serves 8

300ml single cream
300ml milk
100g finely grated parmesan cheese
4 egg yolks
cayenne pepper
12 anchovy fillets
50g unsalted butter
8 very thin slices of pain de campagne
salt and finely ground white pepper
8 x 80ml ramekins or ovenproof dishes, buttered

Mix the cream, milk and all but 1 tbs of the parmesan in a heatproof bowl, place it over a saucepan of boiling water and warm it gently until the parmesan has melted. Remove the bowl and leave to cool .

Preheat the oven to 150°C/ Gas 2.

Whisk the egg yolks, a pinch of salt, a pinch of white pepper and a little cayenne pepper into the cool cream mixture, then pour into the ramekins. Place the ramekins in an ovenproof dish in the oven, then pour boiling water from the kettle into the dish to reach halfway up the ramekins. Cover the dish with a sheet of buttered greaseproof paper and bake for 15 minutes or until the custards have just set. Remove from the oven and turn on the grill.

Mash the anchovies and butter to make a smooth paste and spread over 4 of the slices of bread. Cover with the remaining bread and toast in a sandwich maker or panini machine. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan over the warm custard and brown gently under a hot grill. Cut the sandwiches into fingers and serve alongside the custards.

Cheddar and cracked pepper straws

This is a great way to use up the last bits of hard cheese, particularly a tangy cheddar.

150g plain flour
¼ tsp English mustard powder
pinch of sea salt
100g chilled unsalted butter, cubed
150g strong, mature farmhouse cheddar, coarsely grated
2 tbs coarsely ground black pepper
1 egg yolk
1-2 lightly oiled baking trays

Sift the flour, mustard powder and salt into a bowl. Cut in the butter and rub together with your fingertips as if you were making pastry. Add the cheddar and pepper and rub in thoroughly. Beat the egg yolk with 2 tbs water and add just enough of this mixture to the flour to enable you to pull it together into a dough. Shape into a flat disc, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes, then take out and leave to come back to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/Gas 5. Roll out the dough thinly, then cut into strips about 30cm long. Lay the strips on the baking trays and bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Leave on the trays for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. OFM

• From Fiona Beckett's Cheese Course (Ryland, Peters & Small, £19.99). To order a copy for £18.99 with free UK p&p go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop or call 0330 333 6847