These recipes for oven-baked cheesy goodness will make you melt

My greatest culinary vice is cheese. I love to cook with it, gift it to others and, of course, eat it at any given opportunity. The following recipes are a homage to all things cheesy. They are simple, quick and effective at meeting all your cheese-loving needs. Turn the oven on. I hope you love them as much as I do.

Greek-inspired pull-apart with lemon, honey and garlic

These rolls will evaporate before your very eyes. Fresh out of the oven, cheese oozing, the smell invading your synapses – it’s a quick-and-the-dead scenario as people eat these rapidly and in multiples.

Note: This makes a little more spice mix than you need, but it’s spectacular to have on hand as a marinade for fish, chicken or lamb.

INGREDIENTS

• 15-20 brioche slider buns
• 75g mozzarella, grated
• 75g havarti, grated
• 50g cheddar, grated
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp Greek spice mix (see below)

Greek spice mix

• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp dried dill
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tbsp dried marjoram
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• ½ tbsp onion powder
• ½ tbsp garlic powder
• generous pinch sea salt flakes

To top

• 80g butter
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp Greek spice blend
• small handful fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped
• ¼ cup soft feta

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 175C fan-forced (195C conventional).
2. Lightly grease a baking tray. Halve the brioche buns and lay them in snug rows on the tray. Sprinkle over the grated cheese and lemon zest in an even-ish layer. Dust over 2 tablespoons of spice mix, or enough to generously scatter, then top with the remaining brioche halves.
3. Make the lemon, garlic and honey topping by adding the butter, crushed garlic and honey to a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling constantly, until the butter is foaming and the garlic is fragrant. Remove from the heat and stir through the 2 tablespoons of the spice blend and the chopped oregano. Using a spoon, scoop about half of the mixture over the rolls, reserving the remainder to serve.
4. Bake the rolls for 8 minutes or until the buns have warmed through, the cheese has melted, and your house smells amazing. Remove from the oven and while hot, scatter over the feta, a few fresh oregano leaves and spoon over the remaining hot honey mixture. Serve hot and glorious.

Makes 15–20

Baked feta with crunchy chilli oil and honey

There was a time when a block of Philly cream cheese on a plate covered in sweet chilli sauce and a few sprigs of coriander was the snack-with-drinks de jour. I grew up watching that whacked on a platter as soon as guests were coming over. People went mad for it.

This is an updated version with a little more crunch and interplay of sweet, sour and funk. It’s snack perfection in four ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 block firm feta
• 3 tbsp crunchy chilli oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• finely chopped chives, to serve

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 170C fan-forced (190C conventional).
2. Place the feta in a baking dish. Add the crunchy chilli oil and honey to a bowl and stir to combine before spooning it over the top of the feta. Bake for 10–15 minutes or until the cheese has warmed through. For a few colour marks on top of the feta, turn the grill function on (optional) for the final minute of cooking time, watching like a hawk so as not to burn the seeds in your crunchy chilli oil.
3. Serve as-is or transfer to a serving plate and drizzle the honey-chilli oil mixture over the top. Scatter with chopped chives and serve with crackers or spring roll crisps (see tip). Best served warm.

Serves 6-8 as a light snack

Tip: Serve with some flash-fried spring roll pastry as crisps.

Three-cheese lasagne with pork sausage, kale and lemon

Lasagne is labour, but the payoff is worth every layer, every comforting spoonful of homemade bechamel. There is nothing greater than an oversized slab of piping hot lasagne and a glass of red to keep the winter ails at bay.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4–6 eschalots (French shallots), peeled and halved lengthways
• 1kg pork and fennel sausages, skins removed, meat roughly chopped
• 1 bunch cavolo nero, large stems removed, leaves sliced
• zest 2 lemons
• 6-8 fresh lasagne sheets
• 400g mixed grated cheese (I used mozzarella, parmesan and havarti)

Bechamel

• 85g butter
• 85g plain flour
• 800ml milk
• pinch nutmeg
• salt and pepper to season

METHOD

1. Place a large frying pan over low heat. Add the olive oil, and once hot, add the shallots and cook gently for 5 minutes or until caramelised and soft. Add the sausage meat and cook for 10 minutes or until caramelised and cooked through. Break up any larger chunks with a wooden spoon. Scoop into a bowl.
2. Return the frying pan to the heat and add the kale, lemon zest and a splash of water. Cook for 1–2 minutes, or until soft but still vibrantly green. Add to the sausage mixture and stir to incorporate. Set aside until ready to assemble.
3. To make the bechamel, add the butter to a saucepan and place over low heat. Cook until melted and foaming, then add the flour and whisk vigorously. Continue whisking until the flour comes away from the sides of the saucepan and is fully incorporated with the butter. Slowly stream in the milk, whisking constantly until the bechamel has thickened, about 10 minutes. Add the nutmeg, stirring through to combine, then season generously with salt and pepper. Set aside. Note: this will continue to thicken as it cools, so you may need to whisk through an extra splash of milk to maintain a pouring consistency.
4. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).
5. To assemble, generously grease a 3-litre-capacity ovenproof dish and line the base with pasta sheets trimmed to fit. Spread one-third of the meat mixture over the base, then spread one-quarter/third of the bechamel over, then scatter with ¼ cup of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Top with pasta sheets and repeat the layers two or three more times, finishing with a generous amount of bechamel and the remaining cheese (on your second-last and final layers of pasta, don’t trim the sheets. Let them have an overhang – this adds the most delightful crunch to an otherwise softly textured dish). If you feel a bit light on with the cheese − it’s OK, we’ve all been overzealous with the layers − add a smattering of grated parmesan. Bake until golden, 30–40 minutes. Stand for 10 minutes, then serve.

Serves 8–10

Easy, oozy, cheesy pizza stuffed tomatoes

These are just so moreish. A perfect lunch or side for a spread of deliciousness. And if you were to cook these to complete submission, then literally swoosh fresh bread through the guts of them, I would applaud you and immediately ask for an invitation.

INGREDIENTS

• 4-6 heirloom tomatoes or beefsteak tomatoes
• 90g pepperoni (or salami of your choice)
• 1 cup grated mozzarella
• 3 tbsp black olive tapenade (or finely diced pitted black olives)
• ½ cup chopped basil leaves, plus extra to serve

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional).
2. Gently cut the top off each tomato. Use a spoon to hull the tomato – you want to remove the core and a little of the flesh. (Don’t want to hull so much that the tomato collapses once it cooks, just so you have room for glorious cheesy filling.) Scoop the innards into a bowl and reserve for your next pasta sauce. Drizzle some olive oil over the base of a roasting tray and add the tomatoes to the tray.
3. To a bowl, add the pepperoni, mozzarella, tapenade and basil and toss gently to combine. Scoop the mixture into the tomatoes and season with sea salt flakes and pepper. Add a little drizzle of olive oil then bake in the oven for 30–40 minutes. Scatter over fresh basil leaves and serve.

Serves 4 as a side dish