Recipes: The Wensleydale Creamery

Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese is made by hand, as it always has been, by a devoted team of master cheese-makers to whom Wensleydale isn’t just a cheese – it’s their way of life.

Cream of Leek and Wensleydale Blue Soup (pictured above)

Ingredients
450g (1lb) leeks, peeled and sliced
450g (1lb) potatoes, peeled and diced
100g (4oz) butter
225g (8oz) onions, finely chopped
115g (4oz) Wensleydale Blue
150ml (¼ pint) cooking sherry
1.2 ltr (2 pints) stock
Salt and pepper
Cream and croutons for serving

Method
Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the onions and cook until soft. Add the leeks and potatoes, stir around in the butter and onions and pour in the sherry.

Dampen a doubled sheet of greaseproof paper well and press down over the vegetables to cover them to keep the steam in. Cover with a lid and simmer on a very low heat for 40-45 minutes. Check occasionally that the contents aren't burning or drying out.

Add the stock to the vegetables in the pan and crumble in the Wensleydale Blue cheese. Liquidise the soup in batches and pour through a sieve. Reheat very gently, do not allow to boil then taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper as required.

Stir in the cream before serving and add the croutons.

Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries Cheese Parcels

Serves 4

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Ingredients
1 packet of ready made puff or filo pastry
150g Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries cheese
1 tbsp melted butter to glaze

Method
Place small wedges of Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries cheese in squares of pastry and fold in the corners to make little bundles. Cover with melted butter to glaze.

Bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with a rocket salad dressed with your favourite chutney.

Turkey Breast stuffed with Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries cheese

Serves: 2

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Ingredients
2 Turkey Breasts
50g (2oz) Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries cheese, crumbled

Method
Heat oven to 180°c/Gas Mark 4.

Cut a pocket in the turkey breast and stuff with the Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries cheese.

Place turkey in a baking dish.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until turkey is no longer pink

Wensleydale Blue Cheese & Pear Tart

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Ingredients
220g/8oz ready-rolled puff pastry
110g / 4oz Wensleydale Blue Cheese, crumbled
25g / 1 oz walnuts, lightly crushed
2 ripe pears, peeled, cored, sliced
25g/ 4 oz melted butter
Salt and pepper

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4

Line a 4 X 10cm (4") tart dishes with the pastry. Lightly prick the surface with a fork.

Crumble the Wensleydale Blue cheese and divide between the four dishes. Cover with a thin layer of the crushed walnuts.

Arrange the pear slices decoratively on the walnuts.

Brush the pears with the melted butter and bake in the oven for approx 12 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and well risen. Serve with whole walnuts and a green salad.

Yorkshire Wensleydale & Ginger Cheesecake

A signature dish in Calvert's Restaurant at The Wensleydale Creamery Visitor Centre, and a very popular choice too!

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Ingredients
200g (8oz) crushed digestive biscuits
75g (3oz) melted butter
Topping:
500g (1lb) Yorkshire Wensleydale & Ginger cheese
500g (1lb) cream cheese
Pouring cream to mix
125g (5oz) stem ginger in syrup
Icing sugar to taste

Method
Mix together the digestive biscuits and melted butter. Press down firmly in a 20cm (8") loose bottomed cake tin and refrigerate.

Mix together the Yorkshire Wensleydale & Ginger cheese and cream cheese, add enough cream to make a stiff consistency. Add the stem ginger and then the icing sugar to taste.

Spread the cheese mixture onto the biscuit base and refrigerate until needed

Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries and Apple Cake

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Ingredients
150g/5oz butter
175g/6oz golden caster sugar
2 eggs – beaten
2 tbsp milk
175g/6oz self raising flour – sieved
2 apples – peeled, cored & sliced
125g/4oz Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries
1 tbsp Demerara Sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C / 325°F / gas mark 3. Grease a 20cm (8") spring form cake tin.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beat in the milk and flour.

Fold in ¾ of apples and crumble over the Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries cheese. Spoon the mixture into a tin

Arrange the rest of the apple on top and sprinkle with Demerara sugar. Bake for 55 minutes until risen and golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin

More recipes found at: www.wensleydale.co.uk