Honey whipped goat’s cheese with roasted balsamic grapes, chilli olives with bruschettine

The first time I made this I ate almost the entire dip – it’s sensational. Salty, sweet, creamy and made in seconds. Sweet roasted sable grapes are ideal for a season of entertaining – they go perfectly with the dip and look stunning. If you have any over the grapes make a fantastic addition to a salad and go with any cheese. Crunchy bruschettine bring a whole new texture — either allow your guests to just dip in or assemble for them — a thick schmear of dip topped by a few grapes, some olives and a sprinkle of crispy onions will have everyone in raptures. Serve as part of a buffet or as a milky starter 

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a roasting tin with baking parchment.
• Rinse the grapes – leaving as many as possible on the stalks, and toss them with olive oil, balsamic glaze, ½ tsp of sea salt and pepper. Top with the thyme sprigs.
• Roast until the grapes soften but do not burst – 10 to 15 minutes. Leave to cool.
• For the whipped goat’s cheese: place the goat’s cheese, cream cheese, honey and salt in a food processor. Blitz until smooth, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed.
• Roughly chop the pecans and pick a couple of thyme sprigs into smaller stalks and leaves.
• Transfer the whipped goat’s cheese to a shallow dish, scatter over chopped pecans, a few chilli olives, sea salt flakes, picked thyme and crispy onions.
• Serve with the grapes plus bruschettine for scooping up the dip or arrange canapés, assembled as described in the recipe introduction above, on a platter.

@victoriaprever