What to cook with cheese: 16 recipes

Which cheese for which recipe, and how to store it

The recipes here use several very different cheeses, and knowing them makes shopping easier. Hard cheese and Parmesan melt and add salt and savour (carbonara, lasagne, oat crepe, creamy chicken). Feta is salty and crumbly for Greek salad. Cream cheese is the smooth base for cheesecake, tiramisu, carrot cake frosting and the lavash roll. Mozzarella gives lasagne its stretch.

Wrap hard cheese in baking paper, then loosely in a bag, so it breathes without drying out; it keeps for weeks. Keep feta in its brine. Soft cream cheese must stay cold and be used within the days stated on the pack after opening.

Tips for cooking with cheese

• Grate Parmesan finely and add it off the heat to carbonara, so it melts into a sauce instead of clumping.
• Bring cream cheese to room temperature before beating it for desserts; cold cheese makes lumps.
• Grate your own hard cheese. Pre-grated cheese often contains anti-caking starch and melts less smoothly.
• Taste before salting. Feta, Parmesan and hard cheese are salty; season the dish last.

For the lavash roll, mix herbs and garlic into softened cream cheese first; it spreads evenly and doesn't tear the thin flatbread.

A cheese week: what to cook

• Monday breakfast: oat crepe with melted cheese and tomato.
• Tuesday: chicken breast in creamy garlic sauce.
• Thursday: Greek salad with bread for a light dinner.
• Friday: spaghetti carbonara in 20 minutes.
• Weekend: no-bake cheesecake for guests.

Leftovers, kids and budget

The last bits of hard cheese can be grated and frozen in a bag, ready for lasagne or bolognese. Parmesan rinds add flavour to a pot of soup or sauce. Leftover cream cheese spreads into a lavash roll.

Kids usually love anything with melted cheese; the oat crepe and creamy chicken are easy wins. Cheese is one of the pricier items on the list, so buy one good block and use it across several dishes rather than several small packs.