Stilton and Mozzarella Stuffed Dough Balls with Quince Dip

Ingredients

for the dough

• 250ml semi-skimmed milk
• 3 tsp dried yeast (about 2x 7g sachets)
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 450g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• 25g cornflour
• 1 tsp vegetable oil, for oiling the bowl

For the filling

• 120g vegetarian blue Stilton, cut into 24 equal pieces
• 200g vegetarian mozzarella, cut into 24 equal pieces (roughly 2cm squares)

For the quince dip

• 150g vegetarian quince jelly or paste, loosened up with 2 tbsp boiling water
• 1-2 tsp vegetarian sherry or malt vinegar
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh chives, plus a few extra to garnish
• A couple of pinches of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper, plus extra to garnish

To cook

• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 40g salted butter

Method

1. To make the dough balls: In a small saucepan, gently warm the milk, then add the yeast and sugar. Take the pan off the heat and mix with a spoon. Leave for 10 minutes, until it bubbles lightly to show that the yeast has activated.
2. In a bowl, mix the salt, flour and cornflour. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon and bring the dough together ito form a a ball.
3. Put the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead for 10 minutes, until smooth and springy. A food mixer with a dough hook can also be used for this step.
4. While the dough is on the work surface, clean and oil the bowl. Place the dough back in the bowl and cover loosely with cling film. Leave it somewhere warm for around 30-60 minutes to double in size.
5. Dust the work surface with flour. Knead the dough for a few minutes to loosen it, then divide it into 24 pieces and roll each one into a ball. Roughly flatten each ball into ½cm thick discs. Put a piece of both of the cheeses into the middle of each one.
6. Fold the edges into the middle to cover the cheese filling and pinch the dough to close the edges. Flatten the dough balls into a nice round shape. They can be left in the fridge in a sealed container at this stage for a few hours, or overnight.
7. To make the dip: In a small bowl, mix together the quince jelly, sherry or vinegar, chives and pepper flakes, until combined thoroughly.
8. To cook the dough balls: In a large frying pan, heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and 10g of butter over a medium heat. Fry 6 dough balls for around 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden and puffed up. Drain on kitchen paper.
9. Add the same amounts of oil and butter to the pan as step 8 and continue to fry the next batch. Repeat until all the dough balls have been fried.
10. To serve: Put the dough balls on a serving platter, then sprinkle with pepper flakes and chives. Serve with the quince dip on the side.