Soft and flavorful cheeses

From tangy feta to milky mozzarella, soft cheeses are a valuable ingredient in the culinary arsenal of non-commercial chefs. The variety of flavors they can deliver make chefs want to incorporate them into dishes is creative ways.

At the University of Kansas, in Lawrence, Kan., the catering team has found uses for soft cheeses such as goat, Boursin and ricotta.

“One really popular appetizer of ours has been these little Mediterranean phyllo cups,” says Executive Sous Chef Joseph Pruitt. “It’s a little one-bite dish that has been flying out the door. We start with some fig preserves inside a one-inch phyllo cup. We then pipe on a rosette of goat cheese and place a toasted almond on top. We actually whip the goat cheese with a little cream cheese to make it as smooth as possible.”

Another popular appetizer Pruitt’s team offers is a smoked chicken pancake, which he says is about the same diameter as the phyllo cup. Pruitt makes a maple syrup cream cheese and pipes it on top of a small pancake. He tops that with an ounce of smoked chicken. The dish is then drizzled with more maple syrup and served hot.

Boursin cheese makes an appearance in a vegetarian entree Pruitt calls a Boursin Napoleon.

“We do three layers of puff pastry, cut them into triangles and then bake those,” Pruitt explains. “Then we [take] a layer of puff pastry and pipe [onto it] a little bit of Boursin cheese that’s been mixed with cream cheese to make it smooth. We top that with grilled zucchini and grilled portobello mushroom.”

Pruitt continues building the dish with another layer of puff pastry and more cheese, topped with roasted red peppers and grilled yellow squash. That is followed by the third pastry layer and topped with grilled asparagus. The dish is served with a grilled onion and tomato coulis.

For a more traditional dish that uses soft cheese, the catering department offers an artichoke and ricotta cannelloni. For that dish, Pruitt says they start with caramelized onions that is cooked down with garlic, basil and artichoke hearts. They combine that with a mixture of ricotta and mozzarella and a little salt and pepper, and stuff it into the cannelloni shells. Once baked, it is topped with a diablo sauce, a pureed chipotle marinara that’s finished with a little bit of cream.

“Soft cheeses are very versatile,” Pruitt says. “You can whip them into mashed potatoes and things like that without having to heat them, or you can use them in cold dishes just as easily. I really like Boursin cheese because I love the garlic-herb mixture. It’s one that you can do so much with straight out of the package.”

Cheeses as garnish

At the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, in Madison, Wis., Executive Chef John Williams likes to use soft cheeses in appetizers and salads.

“We’re opening a new concept called The Chef’s Garden, where we are going to offer a few items that feature soft cheeses,” Williams says. “We’re putting brie and mozzarella in bruschetta at that concept, as well as some great flatbreads such as a brie and roasted grape flatbread that also features local honey and caramelized onions.”

Other flatbreads include The Spice, which features jalapeño cream cheese, chorizo, roasted red bell peppers, rock shrimp and cilantro; The Caprese, which uses tomatoes, olive oil, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and balsamic vinegar; and The Fiesta, which includes mozzarella, black beans, red onion, yellow peppers, tomatoes and cilantro.

“I like that soft cheeses are multi-dimensional,” Williams says. “They are very easy to spread, and with things like cream cheese you can add flavors to them. Also, mixing cream cheese and other cheeses such as goat cheese together helps keep costs down, which is a nice bonus.”

Getting fancy

Soft cheeses also can help elevate certain menu items, such as the open-face lobster ravioli that Corey King, associate director of culinary operations at Washington State University, in Pullman, Wash., makes.

“We use a mixture of goat cheese and ricotta for that,” King says. “I make fresh pasta and cut it into squares. For the filling, I sauté some lobster tails and claws with sherry, garlic, oil, butter, sea salt and pepper.”

To build the dish, King layers a pasta sheet, goat cheese and ricotta, a pasta sheet, lobster, and a pasta sheet followed by lobster and cheese combined.

“Once the lobster is out of the pan, I hit the pan leftovers with a little cream and Parmesan cheese to make a sauce and pour it on top,” he adds. “It looks kind of like a Napoleon when it’s done. I find I use a lot of goat cheese, and I actually like making my own. It’s got a great earthy flavor.”

Another favorite dish of King’s is a goat cheese-filled baked portobello appetizer. For that starter, he mixes fresh herbs with goat cheese and stuffs the mixture into grilled portobello mushroom caps. He tops that with some sautéed panko breadcrumbs. The mushrooms are then baked and served with an arugula salad.