Supermarket feta is great for using creatively at home. I’m always adding a sprinkle for that salt-cream-acid hit to salads, steamed veg, grilled meat or fish.
On holiday in Greece, a restaurant we loved would panné [coat in breadcrumbs] then fry feta and drizzle it with chestnut honey. They showed me what was in the panné mix – onion powder, garlic powder, chilli. You can do that at home. Cut feta in chunks: flour (add a pinch of curry powder or cayenne), egg, breadcrumbs, fry in 2cm of oil till crisp.
It bakes in a whole block really well. It’s warm and a bit gooey but holds its texture – put some thinly sliced tomatoes on top so they burst over it. Knockout.
I use it to make a quick pasta with fried chorizo, peppers, cherry tomatoes and fold through loads of fresh basil or dried herbs and crumbled feta – salty, sweet, savoury, fresh, amazing. Finally, it whips beautifully. Crumble it up, add a touch of single cream and whip it; have a taste for seasoning, add a touch of lemon, if you’ve got some sun-dried tomatoes, chop them up and fold them through.
Paul Ainsworth is chef-owner of Paul Ainsworth at No 6, Padstow, Cornwall
