I love feta so much, and I eat a lot of it. I find it really versatile and as long as I have some in the fridge I feel confident that I can pull together some sort of tasty meal, even when other supplies are low - something from the pantry or freezer, plus some vegetables, even the wilty, bottom-of-the-crisper variety, can nearly always be combined with feta to make a meal I’ll get excited about.

Feta has a lovely dense firmness, and when cooked it’s not very melty and it goes a little squeaky. It’s a bit like halloumi, but not nearly as squeaky.

At first, when the cheese is right out of the pan and super hot, it’s a bit gooey and melty; you can smoosh it into some bread or crackers. After a few minutes, it will firm up and you can cut hunks and eat them with or without any bread. I like to scoop up extra honey to put on top.

The salty dairy is offset really nicely by spicy, herbal honey. You can adjust the heat level by adding more or less chili flakes. This is an excellent and easy appetizer, or if you are like me, add some cut vegetables and make this the centre of a quick, tapas-y dinner.

The honey will be way more than you need for this, but I think it has a bunch of other uses so I don’t think you’ll be too mad about having extra. A couple ideas:

Pizza with arugula, prosciutto and figs - drizzle with hot honey after you take it out of the oven
Put the honey on vanilla ice cream and sprinkle some flaky salt on top
Eat it with other cheese - something really sharp and nutty would be great.

rosemary hot honey

2-3 sprigs rosemary

1 tbs chili flakes
3/4 cup honey
1 tbs apple cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until the honey bubbles vigorously. Pour into a clean glass jar and store in the fridge until required.

Note: in the refrigerator the honey will become very thick - microwave for about 15 seconds or sit the jar in a bowl of warm water to get the honey to a pourable consistency.

fried feta

A slab of feta, about 1 ½ inch thick
1 tbs cornmeal
1 tbs all purpose flour
cracked black pepper
2-3 tbs neutral oil like grapeseed or peanut

Heat oil over medium heat in a small frying pan.

Combine flour, cornmeal and pepper on a plate. Dry the feta slightly with a paper towel. Press the sides of the feta into the flour mix.

Place feta in a frying pan and cook for about 3-4 minutes, watching for the bottom to be golden. Carefully turn the feta over to cook the other side until golden brown. Remove from the pan, and serve with hot honey, olives and crusty bread.