The cheese cream for filling or spreading is made of four types of cheese, perfect for filling éclairs, rustic tarts, or spreading on crostini. This cream is also excellent as a sauce for seasoning pasta or placing between layers of a white lasagna. Also, try the strong and decisive taste of pecorino cream.
The cheese cream recipe for filling or spreading reached my family’s hands from a cook who had the idea to use it to fill her exquisite savory tarts. I can’t describe the explosion of flavors I still remember as if it were yesterday. Many years have passed, and I’ve always kept this recipe which I have the pleasure of sharing with you today. If you love cheese, I’m sure you’ll appreciate it.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very economical
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 1 jar of about 14 oz
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1/3 cup gruyere (grated)
- 1/3 cup fontina (grated)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 1/4 cup pecorino romano (replaceable with parmesan or mild gorgonzola)
- 1/3 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- to taste white pepper (optional)
Steps
To make the cheese cream, we start with the Roux technique.
This consists of melting the butter in a non-stick saucepan over low heat, then adding the flour and toasting it with the butter until it becomes a light amber color.Add the milk and whisk the mixture until it thickens; it’s ready in 5 minutes.
Add the grated hard cheeses one at a time, continuously mixing with the whisk and melting them in the pan over low heat. Remove the mixture from the heat and add the grated parmesan and grated pecorino (replaceable with an equal amount of parmesan or mild gorgonzola).
At this point, taste the cheese cream and add salt as needed and a pinch of white pepper.The cheese cream can be used immediately to season pasta or spread on crostini.
If you want to fill savory éclairs or rustic tarts, you must wait for the cream to cool to become more compact. It is stored in a glass jar in the fridge, where it will gain more firmness while remaining pleasantly spreadable.
