I first tried this meal back in Italy, and fell in love with it instantly. It is a great example of how to get the maximum of flavour with minimum of ingredients. Usually, we either have a small portion of it as a starter, followed up by the main course (most often involtini di pollo), or a large portion of smoked cheese is the main course, after a pasta dish first (pomodoro e basilico is my natural choice here). Today, however, as the temperature has hit over 30C, we decided to go for a small meal. You need: a large piece of smoked cheese a handful of fresh sage leaves 5-6 slices of parma ham a dash of olive oil salt and pepper Cut the cheese into slices of about 2cm thick. Place a sage leave on each slice of cheese, and wrap a slice of ham around it and season. Put the slices into a bake dish, or a small baking tray, sprinkle them with a dash of olive. Grill it for about 15-20 minutes.

I came across this meal in one of my mags, and it looked cool enough to give it a go. Worked so well that it has become one of our staple dishes since. Though the original recipe had Gorgonzola cheese in it, we've tried it with a variety of other blue cheeses and it worked equally well. Also, the first time I made it I used rose, instead of white wine, and must say that it probably worked even better. You need: about 0.5 of boneless pork chops 3 cloves of garlic salt pepper some dry basil and thyme a handful of fresh parsley leaves 3 tbsp of oil 5-6 slices of Gorgonzola 200 ml of wine (white or rose) Slice the meat and season it, sprinkle the herbs on top. Pre-heat the oil on  a frying pan, seal the chops on both sides (fry about 1 minute on each side, or until it turns golden brown), then move into a bake dish. Peel and finely chop garlic and parsley, place them on frying pan and fry them on a small heat in the remainder of the oil from dealing the meat. Pour in ...