Poached apples stuffed with Gorgonzola

Ingredients

• 300ml red wine
• 200ml water
• 100ml Marsala
• 50g caster sugar
• 4 tbsp honey
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 6 Golden Delicious apples, halved and cored garden salad leaves
• 160g Gorgonzola, crumbled
• 3 tbsp roughly chopped walnuts

Method

We automatically think of poached pears with cheese, but apples are a little more unusual and bring a whole new twist to a traditional combination. Keep the leftover poaching liquid for drizzling over desserts and ice cream.

1 Combine the red wine, water, Marsala, sugar, honey, lemon zest and juice and rosemary in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

2 Add the apples and poach for about 15 minutes, then allow to cool in the poaching liquid. Remove and slice the apples in half.

3 Bring the poaching liquid to a simmer and reduce until it's slightly more syrupy.

4 Place the salad leaves on a platter. Place the apples on the leaves and sprinkle with Gorgonzola and walnuts. Drizzle over a little of the syrupy poaching liquid.

Keeping it local: use local Cox’s Orange Pippin apples with English Stilton.

Eat Like An Italian

Catherine Fulvio of Ballyknocken House & Cookery School, has a new book available now 'Eat Like An Italian: Recipes for the Good Life', published by Gill & Macmillan at £19.99, which provides lots of information and tips on how to adapt to a more leisurely lifestyle and incorporate the Italian food rules.

Visit our apple recipe section for more delicious cooking ideas, including apple desserts and apple cakes