Grilled Feta Baguette - perfect for a summer Garden Party

Crisp baguette topped with marinated feta cheese, grilled to melting perfection

Grilled Feta Baguettes (vegetarian)

In Cologne Christmas market the spicy, salty smell of the Sheep’s Cheese Baguettes demands your attention.

The cheese is marinated in barrels of olive oil with whole cloves of garlic, chillies, herbs and other spices. The vendor hauls dripping chunks out of the barrel, scrapes off the crust of herbs and flaked chillies, smacks it expertly into white shards and throws them on to halved baguettes, which are then flashed under a hot grill until seared and starting to brown. You eagerly, biting through the crust to find the melting garlicky cheese, oozing gently into bread.

These slices of goodness are just as at home at a summer garden party and are easy to prepare and serve. They're from my Summer of Six set of recipes, designed for small group outdoor parties, appropriate for this summer and autumn gatherings. Have a look at the pages (link above) for lots of ideas to make your entertaining easy and tasty. They'd be good for a school holiday lunch too.
 
Serves 6                                        Timings: marinate the feta for at least 2 days; can be much longer.                                                               Final preparation, 20 minutes.

• 2 x 200g packs feta cheese
• Mix of olive oil, sunflower oil, rape oil and you can use the oil from those jars of tomatoes or artichokes in oil as they already have herbs in – about 200ml.
• 1 fresh red chilli, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, roughly sliced
• 2 bay leaves, and other fresh herbs if you can get them
• Peppercorns, dried oregano, dried thyme, chilli flakes – whatever dried herb mixture you like
• 1 long baguette, as fresh and crisp as you can

 
Several days before eating, marinate your cheese. Mix the oils with the chilli, garlic, bay, and dried herbs and spices in a leak proof fridge container. Take the cheese out of its packet and cut in half across and then cut each piece across its equator, to make thinner pieces. Put these into the container and turn to cover with oil. Put all the cheese into the container, fix the lid, turn it back and forth a couple of times to distribute the oil and then leave in the fridge for a few days. Turn it again a few times a day, whenever you’ve got the fridge open.

Pre-heat your grill to a high setting. Cut the baguette into 3 slices and then halve each piece, so you have 6 long half-pieces. Grill these lightly – 2-3 minutes max - just to toast the top surface.

Drizzle some of the oil from the container over the toasts, especially at the edges, and then cover the slices with the cheese pieces. Drizzle a bit more oil over, adding any pieces of marinated chilli you find. Grill for a few minutes until the cheese just starts to brown - it won’t melt like cheddar.

To Serve: eat hot, with maybe a few rocket leaves scattered artistically on the cheese, or some chopped chillies and coriander.