Finger, Fork & Knife

As winter rolls around we seem to fall into a completely new rhythm. The days are shorter and we seek out foods that warm the heart as well as body. These foods are often indulgent, hearty and cooked using heavy bottomed pots and slow-cookers. I am never without an appetite in the chilly months but I appreciate the simplicity of a light dinner and a minute or two of silence. These little open-faced tartines are a fabulous light lunch or dinner and the solution to your search for simplicity. Goats cheese whipped with hazelnut oil is smeared across toasted slices of sourdough bread, piled high with plump roasted cherries, blueberries and sticky stem ginger. Sticky, sweet and savoury – give them a try!

1½ cups fresh ripe cherries – stemmed, halved and pitted

½ cup blueberries – I used frozen as fresh are out of season in Australia

¼ cup stem ginger syrup – syrup from a jar of stem ginger

2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

2 thick slices of good quality wholemeal sourdough bread

1 cup goats cheese

Hazelnut oil

Sea salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 200C

Place the cherries and blueberries on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle the ginger syrup and orange juice over the cherries and toss together. Place tray into the oven and roast for 8-10 minutes until bubbling and delicious looking.

While the cherries and berries are roasting, toast the slices of bread. In a small bowl, give the goats cheese a quick mix to loosen up – adding a little honey or oil if needed. *I used a little hazelnut oil. Spread the goats cheese mixture onto the slices of toast. Top with the roasted cherries and blueberries and pour over the delicious berry, ginger juices. Serve at room temperature.

Serves 2