A nice easy French recipe for these cold evenings!

Chouquettes salées au fromage de chèvre et fines herbes

Ingredients:

    * 40 g of butter, cut in small pieces
    * 125 ml of water
    * 75 g of sifted flour
    * 1 to 2 eggs ( beat one egg only)
    * 40 g goat’s cheese
    * Some finely chopped chives
    * Salt/ pepper
   
Preheat the oven to 225C/ Gas 8

Heat the water and butter in a saucepan. When the butter has melted and the liquid is boiling remove from the heat, add the flour at once and stir it energetically with a wooden spoon. The mixture must come off the sides of the saucepan and form a dough.

Add the whole egg and beat the mixture. Add some more egg and evaluate if the dough needs more egg; the mixture must form a ‘point’ on the finger and must be homogeneous.

 Add the goats’ cheese, the chives and season; mix just enough to incorporate these ingredients.

Line a tray with baking parchment and form choux buns either with a spoon or a piping bag. Brush each bun with egg wash (whole egg+ water well whisked). With a wet fork, push down the point of each bun - this will allow each bun to rise evenly.

Lower the oven temperature to 200C and bake the buns for 15 minutes.

Tip: At the end of the cooking time, leave the oven on and open the oven door for 3 to 4 minutes - this will allow the choux to dry and avoid them collapsing.

Recipe provided by Isabelle, French tutor with Alliance française de Bristol and chef at La Cuizine