Inexpensive, supremely savoury and moreish, today’s golden brown dishes will tame the sharpest hunger pangs without punishing the budget.

Yes, for the aspiring food photographer, it is worth noting that baking cheese will turn it brown, in whatever dish you include it.

Comté, Jarlsberg, Gruyère, Cheddar or a piquant blue cheese such as Roquefort, each will give a different flavour, but all will make the following recipes.

Some work better than others. For example, the pear tarts do call for blue cheese. These sweet/savoury tarts are perfect for dessert. And perhaps even serve a blue cheese ice cream with them?

Cheese ice creams for dessert have a long history in English confectionery and were introduced around the 1780s, when Parmazan (sic) ice cream became very popular.

Cheese ice creams for dessert have a long history in English confectionery, and were introduced in the 1780s or thereabouts, when Parmesan ice cream became very popular

One of my favourite dishes over the last few months, especially good with pork, both fresh and cured, as in cotechino and zampone, is fonduta, a close cousin of the French aligot. So simple, it scarcely warrants recipe space. All it requires is freshly mashed potatoes. Into these, while still hot, you beat plenty of sliced or grated cheese; ideally, for the Italian version you will want to use Taleggio, and for the aligot a young Cantal.

As you can imagine, this is a dish best suited to Sunday lunch rather than a midnight supper.

Quesadillas with mango or other fruit salsa is a favourite in American bars and are easy to make at home for a cocktail snack or simple first course.

All you need is six flour tortillas or wraps and about 250 grams Gouda or Edam cheese, thinly sliced. For the salsa, you need a mango, peeled and diced small, or three or four kiwi fruit, the juice of one lime and half an orange, four spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced, one clove of garlic, peeled and crushed, one tablespoon light muscovado sugar, Gozo salt, pepper and one tablespoon fresh coriander, chopped.

Mix all the salsa ingredients together, cover and allow to stand for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavours to develop.

To make the quesadillas, sandwich two tortillas with cheese and put the rounds on a baking sheet in a low oven until the cheese is melted. Then cut into wedges, and serve with the salsa. Alternatively, heat the quesadillas in a non-stick frying pan, set over a low heat and with a lid set slightly askew.

The following recipes can also be served as bites with drinks or as first courses; even the cheese soufflés can be baked in miniature paper cases and handed round before dinner.

Cheese puffs

(Makes 12)

75g plain flour
2 eggs
Up to 200ml water
100g strong cheese, such as Old Amsterdam or Pecorino, diced small or grated
Butter

Beat the flour, egg and enough water together to make a smooth batter. Lightly butter bun tins and put the cheese in the bottom. Pour in the batter, and bake in a preheated oven at 200˚C/400˚F, Gas Mark 6, for 15 to 18 minutes.

They should be golden brown and puffed up when cooked, though they will sink somewhat when removed from the oven.

Serve as hot as possible.

Pear, blue cheese and walnut tarts

(Serves 4 to 6)

4 or 6 baked pastry cases
2 or 3 ripe pears, peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
200-300g blue cheese, such as St Agur, Roquefort or Stilton, thinly sliced
75g walnuts, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon fresh thyme
1-2 teaspoons sugar

Alternate thin slices of cheese and peeled pear and fill the pastry cases. Add the chopped walnuts, a sprink-ling of sugar and thyme and bake for 20 minutes at 200˚C, Gas Mark 6.

Serve warm or at room temperature with a leafy salad. Miniature versions are delightful as appetisers, with a glass of fino or dry amontillado, in which case chop the pear slices to make them fit the smaller pastries, and bake for about 12 minutes only.

Cheese soufflé

(Serves 6)

Parmesan cheese – see recipe
600ml milk
Gozo salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
50g butter
6 eggs, five of them separated
50g plain flour, sifted
100g strong cheese, grated

Butter a soufflé dish, or dishes, and dust with a little grated Parmesan. Put three-quarters of the milk in a saucepan with the seasoning and butter. Bring to the boil.

Beat the whole egg with the five egg yolks, the flour and the remaining milk and stir slowly into the boiling milk over a low heat. Stir continuously until the mixture thickens but does not curdle.

Remove from the heat. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Stir the cheese into the sauce and then fold in the egg whites. Pour into the prepared dish, or dishes, and bake in a preheated oven at 200˚C/400˚F, Gas Mark 6, for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of the dishes.

Ricotta and ġbejniet tart

(Serves 6)

225g shortcrust pastry
300g ricotta
4 eggs
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or melted butter
Gozo salt
3 hard or pepper ġbejniet, grated

Roll out the pastry and line a loose-bottomed flan dish or make a free-form rectangular case on a baking sheet, twisting up the corners to give some depth. Prick the base. Cover with greaseproof paper and fill with pasta, shells or baking beans and bake in a preheated oven at 200˚C for 10 minutes. Allow to cool.

Beat the ricotta, eggs and oil or butter until smooth, stir in the grated cheese and spread the mixture in the pastry case.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 200˚C. Remove from the oven and serve warm or at room temperature with a well-dressed salad.

Saffron potato scone

(Serves 4 to 6)

A good pinch of saffron soaked in 1 tbsp boiling water
50g butter, salted or unsalted
350g cooked and mashed potatoes
About 75g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
75g Cheddar, or other hard cheese, grated

Melt the butter in a bowl and stir in the mashed potatoes and saffron water. Add the flour, salt and grated cheese. Roll out on a floured worktop to about two centimetres thickness, mark into quarters or sixths and place on the baking sheet. Bake in a hot 250˚C oven, Gas Mark 8, for 25 minutes. Eat hot or cold, split and spread with butter, or plain. Instead of one large scone, you can cut out and bake individual scones, or even miniature versions; they will take about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on size.