Cheese baskets for salad

Step-by-step preparation

Cooking time: 10 mins

1. STEP 1

   

   For our baskets we need a good piece of hard cheese. The harder the cheese you choose, the better your basket will subsequently hold its shape. I tried it with Dutch and Poshekhonsky cheeses - Poshekhonsky kept its shape much better. I don’t know whether it depends on the variety, or on the quality of the cheese itself, but in my case it was like this...

2. STEP 2

   

   We grate the cheese on a fine grater, but you can prepare the basket itself in two ways - I’ll show you both

3. STEP 3

   

   The first method is in a frying pan; I wanted to make this basket openwork, so I didn’t put a lot of cheese. But keep in mind that the thinner the layer of cheese, the more tender the basket will be and the salad should be something very light, preferably without mayonnaise

4. STEP 4

   

   Place the pan on the lowest heat and wait until the cheese starts to melt and small bubbles appear (it took me about 4 minutes)

5. STEP 5

   

   Then turn the pan over for a few seconds under running cold water, or place it on a wet towel and leave for a couple of minutes

6. STEP 6

   

   For the second method we need a plate and a microwave - we grease the plate

7. STEP 7

   

   Sprinkle the plate with cheese

8. STEP 8

   

   Place in the microwave for 1 minute at maximum power (I have 700 W)

9. STEP 9

   

   Place the plate and a wet towel

10. STEP 10

    

    Carefully pry it off with a spatula (it’s very convenient to use a silicone one) and turn the cake over onto a glass - it is now warm and has not yet completely cooled down, so you can give it the desired shape. In this form, you can put it in the refrigerator to harden (30 minutes is enough)

11. STEP 11

    

    Or, to give it shape, you can place the basket in a deep bowl or salad bowl and put it in the refrigerator like this - I can say that in both cases it turned out very well

12. STEP 12

    

    This is what the basket looks like just out of the refrigerator

13. STEP 13

    

    We fill the baskets with our favorite salad, the recipe for which, I’m sure, was found on Khrumka (I’ll be glad if you share the recipe in the comments)

14. STEP 14

    

    Sliced ​​fruits or fruit salad will look very nice in such a basket.

15. STEP 15

    

    From the specified amount of cheese I got 3 baskets. It’s very convenient to prepare such baskets on the eve of the holiday, put them in a pile in the refrigerator, and fill them with salad the next day before serving.

16. STEP 16

    

    You can add roasted sesame seeds or a clove of garlic to the cheese and then the dish will sparkle in a new way

17. STEP 17

    

    Good luck in your culinary experiments! And Bon Appetit!