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Preparation method:

For the quiche:

1. Preheat the oven at 180˚C;
2. Add a little olive oil to a frying pan over a medium high heat. Finely slice 1/2 onion, add them to the frying pan and fry them until soft. They should be softened but not browned;
3. Oil the holes of a regular muffin tin with a little olive oil and line them with a slice of Parma ham. Make sure the bottom and sides of the holes are fully lined with the Parma ham;
4. Cut the blue cheese into little cubes, slice 1 spring onion finely and slice the roasted pepper in long strips;
5. Mix 2 eggs, 30ml of cream and 30ml of milk in a bowl and whisk them together. Add a generous amount of pepper;
6. Fill the muffin holes lined with Parma ham with the blue cheese, spring onion, roasted pepper and the slivers of red onion and finish half a cherry tomato on top. Do not over fill;
7. Fill up the muffin holes with the egg mixture;
8. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top and bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the egg mixture has completely set.

When the quiches are done, take them out of the oven and leave to cool. If you’re not sure if the quiches are set, prick them with a metal skewer. When you remove the skewer, it should be dry warm all the way through.

You could of course roast your pepper yourself, but for this recipe, I used store bought jarred peppers. They are very tasty and the keep for weeks in the fridge if you close the jar propperly.

For the salad, mix the rocket, watercress, coriander and basil in a bowl. Quarter 4 cherry tomatoes and add them to the herb salad. Finely slice 1 spring onion and add that too. Dress the salad with a little olive oil, a generous amount of freshly ground pepper and some salt (I prefer fleur de sel). Mix to get everything coated with the oil. Plate the salad and add a few petals of homemade pickled onion.

Making pickled onion is simple, but if you don’t want to be bothered with that, you could use fresh thinly sliced onion instead. Add a little chardonnay vinegar to dress the salad.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 30ml cream
• 30ml milk
• 4 slices of Parma ham
• 1/2 small red onion
• 2 spring onions
• 1/2 roasted pepper
• homemade pickled onions
• 6 cherry tomatoes
• a handful of rocket
• a handful of watercress
• fresh coriander leaves
• fresh basil
• olive oil
• salt & peper
• grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation method:

For the meringue:

1. Separate about 5 eggs until you have 150g of egg whites;
2. Beat the egg whites with 90g of white sugar. After a couple of minutes add another 90g of white sugar. Finally add 90g of icing sugar and beat to stiff peaks;
3. Spoon the the beaten egg whites in a piping bag and pipe in little circles on a baking tray lined with baking paper;
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 100˚C for at least an hour (up to 75 minutes). Turn off the oven and leave the meringues in the oven to dry while the oven cools down. Do not open the oven during the baking process.

For the sweet & sour cherry gel, mix 100ml of cherry vinegar—I use vinegars from Oil & Vinegar—and 100ml sugar sirup(*). Set aside a little bit of the mixture, pour a the bulk of the mixture into a sauce pan over a high heat and bring it up to the boil. While waiting for the mixture to boil, dissolve 1.2g of agar agar it the mixture you set aside. As soon as the mixture in the sauce pan is boiling, add the agar agar mix to the pan and leave to boil for another 5 minutes stirring to make sure the agar agar is fully dissolved.

Leave it cool for a little while, then poor it in a squeeze bottle and set aside to completely cool. By the time is has completely cooled, the mixture should have turned into a translucent gel.

I make whipped cream in an espuma bottle and since this recipe has meringue, I don’t add sugar to my whipped cream. If you make your whipped cream by hand, add a little sugar, it helps to stiffen the cream.

Plate up the meringue, strawberries, whipped cream and the sweet & sour gel to make an attractive plate. Finish with a few sprigs of mint.

(*) sugar sirup is equal quantities of water and white sugar that you heat up until the sugar has fully dissolved.

Ingredients:

• 150g egg whites (about 5 eggs)
• 2 x 90g white sugar
• 90g icing sugar
• 100ml cherry vinegar
• 100ml sugar sirup
• 1.2g agar agar
• Whipped cream

Preparation method:

For the filo tartlets:

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C and grease the holes of a muffin or cupcake tin;
2. Cut the filo pastry into squares that are big enough to fit in your tin. Brush each piece of filo with metled butter. Layer 3 pieces of filo on top of eachother;
3. Please the filo cases into the oven for about 5 to 10 minutes (until golden brown);
4. When baked, take the filo cases out of the oven and set a side to cool. Be careful when removing the cases from the tin as they tend to break.

For the strawberry & habanero jam:

1. Quarter 500gr of strawberries and chop the habanero pepper;
2. In a saucepan set over a medium heat, add 400gr of white sugar, the juice and zest of 1/2 an orange. Let the sugar dissolve in the orange juice;
3. Turn up the heat to high and add the strawberries and the habanero pepper. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches jam consistency. Set aside to cool.

For the cream, mix 200gr mascarpone, 50gr cream and 25gr of white sugar together in a bowl until it becomes thick & creamy.

Now fill the cooled filo cases with a good spoon full of the mascarpone cream, drizzled over some of the strawberry & habanero jam and top with your favorite red fruits and strawberries. Finish with a sprig of mint for decoration.

I like my jam to be nice and spicy. If you don’t like the spice, use half a habanero pepper. (serves 4)

In case you’re wondering: yes, I made this myself. And yes, I did the photo too.

Ingredients:

• 50g melted butter
• 150g filo pastry (store-bought)
• 200g mascarpone cheese
• 50g cream
• 425g white sugar
• 500g strawberries
• 1/2 orange, zested and juiced
• 1 habanero pepper
• assorted red fruits
• a few mint leaves