Savoury Biscotti

Going up to buy some white port, and I thought I'd stash this recipe for when I have it...plus the savoury cheddar one too.

Stilton and Walnut Biscotti

• 2 large eggs
• 100 g (1 cup) crumbled Stilton cheese
• 150 g (1 cup plus 2 TB) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 50 g (1/2 cup) chopped walnut pieces

Preheat your oven to 350F.

With the eggs and cheese in the bowl of your food processor let it run for about a minute. The cheese will thicken the eggs and the texture should become fairly smooth.

Add the flour, salt, and baking powder and pulse three or four times. Don't overwork the flour, you just want to integrate it. The dough should entirely come together because once you turn it out onto a counter you want to be able to spread the chopped nuts over top, gently knead it, and then form it into a roughly-shaped log with the nuts distributed throughout.  The two smallest dimensions of your piece of dough should be about an inch and three inches, respectively.

Transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with a silicon mat or parchment paper and bake for twenty to twenty-five mintues. After ten minutes of cooling on a wire rack slice the once-baked dough into half-inch slices and bake again for thirty minutes, flipping the slices halfway through.

Bittman's savoury cheddar

2 eggs

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste.

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put the eggs and cheese in a food processor and process until yellow and thick, about a minute. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne and pulse three or four times, just to integrate the dry ingredients; you don’t want to overwork the gluten in the flour.

2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead it until it holds together — it may be a bit crumbly at first. Shape the dough into an 8- to 10-inch log, transfer to the prepared baking sheet and gently flatten.

3. Bake until the log begins to color and is firm to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool for about 10 minutes, then cut on the bias into half-inch slices. Lay the biscotti flat on the baking sheet and bake until crisp and toasted, 15 minutes; turn and toast the second side for another 10 to 15 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Yield: About 16 biscotti.