I’d never even THOUGHT about using tulips on my dinner table other than as a display.  It’s just unfortunate that I didn’t come across this recipe on the internet before all my tulips had dropped their petals!!  Still, one recipe to put in my folder ready for next year – it’ll make a superb starter if I have anyone over for dinner next Easter.This recipe is enough to serve 6 people as a starter.  It’s quick and easy to make, relatively cheap, vegetarian friendly and will look absolutely stunning on your dinner table!

Ingredients

3 tulips

100g (4 oz) goats cheese

2 tbsp curd cheese (or ricotta if curd cheese isn’t available!)

2 tbps plain yoghurt

2 tbsp fresh dill

Seasoning to taste

Method

Remove the tulip petals gently and trim the bottom of each one with a pair of scissors or a sharp knife.  Then keep the petals on one side in a bowl of clean, cold water.

Mash the goats cheese in a bowl, beat in the curd cheese or ricotta and the yoghurt.

Finely chop the dill and stir it into the goats cheese mix and then season it to your taste with some salt and pepper.

To serve the dish, take each petal and very gently wipe the front and back with kitchen paper.  Arrange the petals on a serving plate and then place a teaspoonful of the filling on top.

If you have any of the topping left, pop it into a bowl and serve some bread sticks or fresh vegetable sticks such as cucumber, carrot or celery, and use it as a dip.

I’ve found that ricotta seems to be more readily available in major supermarkets than curd cheese, although my local supermarket does sell curd.  Either way, the cheese is quite cheap, certainly here in the UK, at around £1 a tub.

If you can’t get hold of fresh dill you might want to try something like tarragon or, if you’re really at a loss add some parsley and basil mixed together which you can easily grow in a pot from seed on your windowsill or try another combination of herbs.  As the dish is primarily a mixture of mild soft cheeses, just about any herbs should work, in theory.