The closure of the restaurants, hotels, pubs and cafes they’d usually supply due to the current coronavirus crisis has had a huge impact on their business, so Booths is trying to do its part to keep these fantastic artisan producers going. Booths is particularly keen to help local cheese producers, so here’s a recipe using that local produce. This week’s recipe uses Burt’s Blue, the flagship product of Burt’s Cheese, based near Knutsford, Cheshire. It’s a handmade semi-soft cheese produced using pasteurised cow’s milk from local dairies. The cheese develops a mouldy coat which can vary seasonally from darker ‘green blues’ to paler ‘grey blues’. Each cheese is pierced by hand during the ripening process to allow the growth of mild blue veins. Delicious on a cheeseboard, or in any recipe that calls for blue cheese. Pear, Blue Cheese and Proscuitto Soda Bread Ingredients 300g plain flour 200g wholemeal flour 1tsp salt One-and-a-half tsp bicarbonate of soda 200g pears, grated 100g Burts Blue cheese, diced 50g Prosciutto, diced 200ml milk 200g plain yoghurt 1tsp honey 1 tbsp wholemeal flour to sprinkle on top Method 1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (fan)/425°F/gas mark 7. Combine the plain and wholemeal flours, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Then add the grated pear, blue cheese and prosciutto and stir well. 2. Separately mix the milk, yoghurt and honey together. Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture and add the wet mixture, stir to combine. 3. Line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper and spoon in the mixture. 4. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with one tablespoon of wholemeal flour and bake in a pre-heated oven for 45-50 minutes. Allow to cool completely before removing from the tin and slicing. Chefs Tip This loaf makes a great accompaniment to a bowl of soup served warm and spread with butter. To make this loaf vegetarian, swap the diced prosciutto for chopped walnuts.