Roquefort with Red Wine Poached Prunes
We all know how luxurious it is to end a meal with cheese. Roquefort pairs so well with jammy wines and dried fruit gives it the perfect amount of sweetness. Prunes are a classic French ingredient, but you could always do a mixture here too, with dried figs and dry cherries. This walks the line between cheese plate and dessert, and is decidedly simple and elegant.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces pitted prunes
- ½ cup sugar
- 1¼ cup dry but full-bodied red wine
- Peel of 1 lemon use a vegetable peeler to remove the peel in strips, avoiding the white pith
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise pod
- 4 to 6 ounces Roquefort cheese cut into small wedges *you’ll want about an ounce per person
Instructions
- ►In a deep pot, combine prunes, sugar, wine, lemon peel, cinnamon stick and star anise. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until wine reduces by about a quarter and mixture becomes syrupy, about 35 minutes. Turn off heat and cool to room temperature. This can be made several days ahead of time and kept in the fridge. Leftovers will keep for week.
- ►To serve, plate individual 1 oz portions of Roquefort with a few stewed prunes and some syrupy wine.
