Entrée: Blue Cheese Brûlée Peach

Peach Half, Stuffed with Blue Cheese and Caramelized Fennel, topped with sugar and brûléed

"Entrée" is the FIRST course. Not the main. And here is a recipe to get the meal started in a strong way.

Ingredients:

One Bulb of Fennel, fluffy tips removed. white part finely sliced.

200g Gorgonzola

3 Peaches, halved, stone removed.

6 Slices of Prosciutto

Brown Sugar

Olive Oil

Salt

Bring a frying pan to a medium heat, add some olive oil, and then add the fennel. Caramelize the fennel until super soft and a few shades darker (caramel colour!). To do this, keep moving the Fennel around. when it looks a bit dry, add a splash of water. When it's done, it should be soft and sticky.

Transfer to a bowl, and add the gorgonzola (I used Roquefort, but a strong gorgonzola probably works better). Mix the two together really well - I used a potato masher to get things going. Taste it here; this will be your only real opportunity: Blue cheeses are very different - if its a really briney cheese or gorgonzola, you may want to add little to no salt, but if it's super light, salt will need to be a bit heavier. Aim for a light but noticeable saltiness. Trust your tastebuds.

Reset the frying pan, and add a little olive oil, and bring to a medium heat. Add the peaches, along with a splash of water. Cover with a lid, and cook for 10 minutes until the peach is soft. Remove the peaches.

Put a peach half on a plate (or two), and stuff the inside of the peach, where the stone goes, with some of the blue cheese fennel mixture (hollow it out a little if you want more blue cheese). Also spread it out in a thin layer over the peach top. And a good sprinkle of sugar over top in an even layer (about 1 tsp), and using a blow torch, torch the top until it melts, and little bits start to burn. Allow to cool.

Add a rolled up slice of prosciutto, and some of the fennel tips, and serve.