Roquefort is more than cheese. It is the flavour of myth and history: Pliny the Elder wrote about its rich aroma while Charles VI granted the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon a monopoly for ripening the cheese.

It is political. In 2009, when the European Union banned imports of US hormone-treated beef, the Bush administration retaliated by singling out Roquefort and imposing a 300 per cent import duty on it.

The tangy, creamy cheese is also a symbol of our gourmet inventiveness: green mould, an unwanted ingredient in any other food, is what gives Roquefort its distinct marbling and makes it so singularly delicious.

This year we celebrate the 90th birthday of Roquefort. Of course, the cheese is much older. However, it was in 1925 that it became the first cheese to receive official legal protection within the Appellation Origine Protegee system. Among various requirements, these new regulations stipulated that Roquefort must be aged in the caves of Mont Combalou in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, France.

Roquefort doesn’t taste a day over 90 years. And what better way to celebrate this sheep’s milk cheese than to make it the star of a menu.

Roquefort, leek and mushroom pasta bake

You need
500gr dried penne
1tbsp olive oil
Butter
150gr Roquefort
1 leek, cleaned and sliced
125gr chestnut mushrooms, sliced
75ml double cream
White wine

Method

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the butter and leeks. Cook gently for five minutes until the leek is soft. Then add the mushrooms and cook for another five minutes. In the meantime, cook the pasta in boiling water.

When the vegetables are ready, add a splash of wine, simmer for two minutes and add the cream. Add three-quarters of the cheese and stir it through until it has melted.

Add the vegetables to the pasta and mix. Transfer to an ovenproof dish and dot with the remainder of the blue cheese. Cover the dish and bake for 25 minutes until the top is lightly browned.

Bruschetta with Roquefort, fig and ham

You need
One small baguette, thinly sliced
2tbsp olive oil
100gr Roquefort
5 slices prosciutto, torn into pieces
5 figs, quartered

Method

Heat the oven to 200C. Brush the baguette slices with olive oil and season. Bake for five minutes until crisp. Leave to cool and then spread over some Roquefort. Top each slice with a piece of ham and a fig quarter. Season with pepper and serve.

Mulled pears with Roquefort dressing

You need
3 pears, peeled, halved and cored, with stalks left on
300ml red wine
3tbsp caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick
Toasted pecan nuts
A handful of watercress

For the dressing
100gr Roquefort
1tsp white wine vinegar
3tsp olive oil
125ml crème fraiche

Method

Put the pears in a pan and cover with the wine and water. Sprinkle over the sugar and add the cinnamon stick. Cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes. Leave to cool.

To make the dressing, mix the vinegar and oil with seasoning. Warm the Roquefort with the crème fraiche on a gentle heat until it has melted. Toast the pecans in a dry pan.

Drain the pears, slice them lengthwise and fan them out on a plate. Toss the watercress in the vinegar and oil dressing, pile onto a plate and sprinkle over the nuts. Pour the warm Roquefort dressing around the pears.

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