Cabecou du Perigord. Soft Goats Cheese Tart
A Classic French Farmhouse Lunch Recipe from the Midi Pyrenees
May 14, 2009
The name Cabécou comes from the ancient Occitan language of Southern France. In Occitan ‘cabre’ means goat and ‘cou’ means little one. So literally Cabécou translates as ‘little goat’.
There are lots of varieties of Cabécou and each area lends the cheese it’ name. Eg: Cabécou du Perigord. Wherever they are made they always take the same form of a small 62cm diameter, round creamy fondant palet. Which usually weighs about 70g each and contains about 45% fat content.
They are made from pure raw goats milk. A fresh batch of morning milk is mixed with an older batch and left to ferment for between 6 and 12 days. Then it is lightly salted and rolled into the palets.
It is a mild cheese and when eaten young has a delightful hazelnut taste. If left to mature for a couple of weeks it develops a thin blue mould ring and a stronger ‘goat’ taste.
Degustation:
It is often eaten at the end of a meal as part of a cheese board, rolled in nuts and wrapped in vine leaves it is particularly delicious with pears. But it is also good served hot in a classic French Goats Cheese Tart (perfect at lunchtime with a crisp green salad) or melted over asparagus as a delicious starter
Recipe: Tarte Salée Cabécou du Perigord (Goats Cheese Tart)
Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 Cabécou du Perigord* c140g
- 1 pre-made Puff pastry base
- 2 slices of Jambon cru (cured ham)
- Seasoning to taste
- Béchamel sauce: 20g butter, 20g flour, 30cl milk, 1 egg
- 20g grated parmesan cheese
*If you can’t find Cabécou locally then you can use any soft white goats cheese.
Method:
- First make a béchamel sauce:
- Over a hot heat melt the butter and stir in the flour to make a paste.
- Add the milk little by little, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thick and creamy.
- Put to one side.
- Roll or lay out the pastry onto a tart case 25cm diameter
- Cut the goat’s cheese and the jambon cru into chunks and scatter over the pastry base.
- Add the egg and the parmesan to the béchamel sauce and whisk.
- Pour the sauce onto the pastry case to cover the contents.
- Preheat the oven to 210 degreesC, gas mark 7 and cook for 35mins until golden.
To Serve: Serve with a green salad and a white Midi Pyrenean wine like a dry ‘Gaillac’.
Recipe: Roasted Asparagus with Cabécou du Perigord
Serves: 4 people
Prep Time: 10mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Ingredients:
- 4 Cabécous du Perigord
- 1kg fresh green asparagus
- 50g shaved parmesan
- Olive oil
- Seasoning
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 210 degreesC. Gas mark 7.
- Prepare the asparagus by cutting the ends off and washing and drying thoroughly.
- Place the asparagus in an over proof dish and drizzled with olive oil.
- Leave to bake for 20mins.
- Remove the asparagus from the oven.
- Cut the Cabécous in half so that you are left with 8 discs. Place these on the asparagus, season and sprinkle with the parmesan shavings.
- Grill for 10 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and golden.
Serve immediatley.
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