In the winter I often bake some cheese; the likes of Vacherin Mont D’Or lends itself beautifully to being shoved in the oven whole, with a bit of white wine poured over it and then eaten with bread or potatoes, gherkins and some ham. Not a cheap dinner but all you need is a woolly jumper and you have a home-made version of après-ski. In the summer I live on the likes of feta and halloumi but I have only ever baked them in bits with other stuff, not whole and although I don’t think halloumi would lend itself to such treatment, feta is perfect. This is from Nigel Slater’s Real Fast Food, probably the best after-work cookbook there is, and all you need is three ingredients, some bread and ten minutes. Glorious. Next time I might try marinating it as well (yet another use for lemon zest!) and then baking it but that requires some forethought.

Baked feta with thyme

For two you will need:
Cupboard or things you may already have
olive oil, about a tablespoon
kitchen foil

Shopping list
feta, 200g or so
fresh thyme, a couple of sprigs
good bread and perhaps a salad to go with it (tomato or green would be good)

How to
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C/gas 7.
2. Put a piece of foil large enough to wrap the feta in a roasting dish. Put the feta in the middle.
3. Pull the thyme leaves off their stalks and sprinkle on top of the cheese. Pour the olive oil over the top. Scrunch the foil around the cheese so that it loosely covers it.
4. Bake for about 8-10 minutes until warm and soft.