Lyonnais cheese dip with herbs (cervelle de canut)

This dip was created in Lyon, the silk capital of France in the 19th century, and the French title translates as "silk worker's brain" meaning it is "soft". It's often served with hot baked potatoes, but is lovely on toasted sourdough baguette.

• serves

  6-8

• prep

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 250 g (8½ oz) creamed cottage cheese or quark
• 50 ml (2 oz) crème fraîche
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• 3 tbsp finely sliced chives
• 6-8 small-medium potatoes, baked in the skin in the oven

Chilling time 1 hour

Instructions

Place the cottage cheese in a salad bowl and mix in the crème fraîche.

Whisk in the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper, then stir in the shallot, parsley and chives.

Cover with plastic film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Cut the baked potatoes in half and serve them with the tasty dip.

Photography by Benito Martin. Styling by Jerrie-Joy Redman-Lloyd.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.