Camembert cheese is considered the most popular French cheese in the world, but have you ever had it baked?! If you’re already a fan of the cheese, prepare to love it even more. With just a few additions of garlic and herbs, the soft, oozy and gooey texture becomes amplified baked in the oven for 15 minutes or until molten. This is perfect as a starter or addition to up your cheese board game.

Serves: 2 (but 1 if you’re greedy!)

Ingredients: 7

Cooking time: 20 mins

Skill level: Easy

Ingredients

• 1 wheel of camembert, ideally one in a wooden box
• 3-4 slices of bread
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 stem of tarragon
• 4 baby leaves of sage
• 4 long sprigs of rosemary

Method

1. Take the cheese out of the wooden box and unwrap it. Place the wheel on its side and gently cut off the top layer to remove the rind and expose the core. We’re basically cutting a ‘lid’ so that the cheese can melt and cook faster. If for any chance you can’t find a cheese in a box, you can put this in a little ramekin or dish.
2. Now take your cheese, and gently shimmy it back into its box.
3. Peel and thinly slice your 2 garlic cloves.
4. Using the top of your knife, make small incisions into the top of your cheese. We’re creating holes so we can easily slide in the garlic and herbs.
5. Take your rosemary and gently pluck the bottom sprigs off. We’re going to strip the leaves off this rosemary later for the bread, but going to keep the top sprigs on, so make sure you are plucking from the bottom.
6. Take a rosemary sprig and slice of garlic and begin sliding it into the cheese incisions. Keep a bit of rosemary and cheese exposed on the top. Continue this until all incisions have been filled with all of your herbs.
7. Drizzle 2 teaspoons of olive oil and sprinkle some salt over the top of the cheese.
8. Now take your rosemary sprigs and gently strip off the middle to end leaves with your hands. Then slice your bread into small squares and thread your bread into the rosemary sprigs like a skewer.
9. Drizzle the bread with olive oil and place on a baking tray with the cheese and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes or until the cheese is oozing and melted, and the bread is hot and crispy.
10. Enjoy by dunking the crispy bread into the melted cheese, and with a glass of your favourite wine!

Recipe FAQ’s

SHOULD I PUT THE CHEESE IN A DISH IF I DON’T HAVE A WOODEN BOX?

Yes if you can find one that can fit snug inside! If it doesn’t have a wooden box, I would recommend not cutting off the lid entirely and instead just scoring the top of the cheese, this will prevent the cheese collapsing in a puddle whilst in the oven.

CAN I USE ANOTHER CHEESE INSTEAD OF CAMEMBERT?

Yes! A triple cream Brie would also work perfectly!