This was done in a home kitchen so you know you don’t need fancy equipment or skills to come out with this delicious melted cheese appetizer.

The original recipe from New York Times used Feta Cheese, but this was equally sublime with our fresh kesong puti.

Ingredients:

1 pack Pinkie’s Farm Kesong Puti (200g white cheese)

A few sprigs of fresh thyme. But you can use any herb you like.

2 tablespoons (approx) olive oil

1 tablespoon honey (use the natural ones, not the commercial ones!)

Freshly ground black pepper

Sea Salt (we used Maldon’s flakey sea salt)

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven (we used a simple toaster oven) to 400 degrees. Select a small oven-to-table earthenware dish or a small ovenproof sauté pan lined with aluminum foil to help transfer the cheese to a plate after roasting. Place the cheese in the dish and cover with the olive oil. Bake until the cheese is soft and springy to the touch but not melted, about 8 minutes.

2. Preheat the broiler. Drizzle the honey on top of the cheese. Use more if you like it slightly more sweet. Sprinkle the thyme leaves. Broil until the top of the cheese browns and just starts to bubble.

3. Season to taste with black pepper and sea salt (if using feta,skip the salt because feta is already salty. Our kesong puti is not as salty as feta so we add salt in the end). Serve immediately with pita wedges and, if desired, sliced heirloom tomatoes, roasted beets, nuts or pickled vegetables. Actually it was good on its own as well. 🙂

The kesong puti turned out soft and warm and pillowy, with a tinge of sweetness. The freshly cracked pepper and flakey salt added to the savoriness of cheese.

Here’s the original recipe from NYTimes.