Sluttishly Savoury: Stilton Cheesecake

One of my favourite things about Christmas is getting a half wheel of Stilton to much on throughout December. But last Christmas (feels weird saying that already) I was a) disorganised and bought it later than normal and b) not hosting dinner at my house for the first time in a few years. Whilst the b) part was lovely, it did mean that I had - and this isn't something that you'll hear me say very often - leftover Stilton. It was whilst furtively stuffing some in to my mouth on a digestive that I pondered whether there was such a thing as Stilton cheesecake and if there was, I had to have it.

I had a look for recipes online and found there's a lot that are traditional baked cheesecake recipes and even more that I would class as a quiche owing to the presence of eggs and pastry but nothing quite what I was looking for. So I made it up. It could've been hideous. Turns out it's really rather easy and tasty...

You will need:

• 370g Stilton
• 250g mascarpone
• About 30ml milk or cream
• black pepper for seasoning
• 250g digestive biscuits
• 150g butter (salted or unsalted, it's up to you - I use unsalted)
• A springform tin (I used a 8 inch one)

Make it!
1. First make your base. You could blitz the biscuits in a food processor but that isn't nearly as much fun as putting them into a clean polythene bag and smashing them to bits with a rolling pin.

2. Now melt your butter and mix with the biscuits, press down into the base of the tin and chill for about an hour.

3. While the base is chilling, put the Stilton and mascarpone in a food processor and whizz it up. If you haven't got a food processor, you can mash them together with a potato masher. Which would be excellent upper arm exercise probably. Season with a little black pepper and add the milk or cream a little at a time until the mix becomes thick but creamy. I got a bit bored of this so there's little lumps of Stilton in mine but I'm ok with that. Make it as smooth or lumpy as you like.

4. Spread the mix (which will be a rather offputting bluey-green colour) over the base and chill for at least an hour before eating.

It can be eaten on its own or it'd be lovely with a warm salad of new potatoes, green beans and bacon.