Go bold with a bit of blue

For the garnish:

tablespoons honey cup lightly toasted walnuts or hazelnuts

1

Lightly grease four ramekins or small tea cups with neutraltasting oil. Put the gelatine leaves in a small bowl and cover with cold water. Set aside.

Put the cream, milk, honey and cheese in a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Simmer gently for three minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat.

Squeeze the excess water from the gelatine, then stir the leaves into the cream mixture until smooth.

Pour into the four prepared cups and let cool to room temperature, then transfer to the fridge and leave to set for two hours (if you’re serving straight from the cups) or four hours if you want to turn them out.

Remove the panna cotta from the fridge at least 10 minutes before serving. To take out of the mould, run a knife around the inside of the cup, then invert it over a plate. Drizzle with honey and scatter over some chopped nuts before serving.

Serves 3-4 Preparation time:

10 minutes Cooking time:

30 minutes

This soup was born out of a fridge-clearing exercise (a small fridge and a large cauliflower are not compatible), but has become one of my favourites. The turmeric is added for colour, rather than any hipster health reasons.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, finely diced a large cauliflower, broken into small florets

teaspoon ground turmeric

3 cups vegetable stock

100g blue cheese Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

Set a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the oil, followed by the onion and a generous pinch of salt. Saute for five minutes, until the onion is soft but not coloured. Add the turmeric and cauliflower and saute for another five minutes. Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 15-20 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender. Drop in twothirds of the cheese, then remove the pot from the heat.

Using a blender or a stick blender, puree the soup until smooth (you will have to do this in batches if using a blender). Return the soup to the pot and add the lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning – it is unlikely to need any salt, but will benefit from some cracked black pepper. Reheat to simmering point, then divide between bowls and crumble the remaining cheese on top. Serve immediately.

This is as uncomplicated as cooking gets – if you can stir, you can make this dip. It’s excellent with celery sticks, grainy crackers or eaten out of the bowl with a spoon.

150g cream cheese, at room temperature

50g blue cheese (a fairly tangy, crumbly one is best)

50g walnut halves, broken up with your fingers

Put everything in a small bowl and beat together with a fork until well combined.

Keep anything you don’t use at once in the fridge, covered, for up to a week.

More of Lucy’s recipes at thekitchenmaid.com. To see what she’s cooking on a daily basis, find her on Instagram or Facebook.