Food

Chef Voula's savoury cheesecake is a real treat. You can serve it as a brunch dish or as a starter with a nice mixed greens salad. It also makes a great lunch. You can skip the bacon if you'd like to enjoy this as a vegetarian dish - simply garnish the top with finely sliced chives or green onions, just before serving.

10 to 12 slices bacon
2 8-oz (250 g) blocks cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups (500 mL) grated white cheddar cheese
4 large eggs
½ tsp (2 mL) ground white pepper
3 green onions, finely sliced
1/3 cup (75 mL) finely sliced sundried tomatoes
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) sour cream

Directions

Heat oven to 375F (190C). Place a grilling rack over a baking pan and lay bacon slices out in a single layer. Cook bacon in the oven until done, about 15 minutes. Lay bacon out onto paper towels to absorb as much of the fat as possible.

Coarsely chop bacon then place in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely crumbled. Place crumbled bacon into a frying pan set over low heat. Cook until more fat has been rendered and the crumbled bacon is crisp. Strain bacon through a fine metal sieve until all the fat has drained. Spread crumbles out onto a paper towel to absorb any remaining fat. Set aside until ready to use.

Lightly grease an 8 inch (20 cm) spring form pan.

Cut cream cheese into chunks and place into the bowl of the food processor with the grated cheddar, eggs and white pepper. Pulse until mixture is smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a spatula, as needed.

Add finely sliced green onions and sliced sundried tomatoes to processor and pulse just until evenly distributed throughout mixture.

Using a spatula, scrape cheesecake mixture into spring form pan. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until top is golden and set in the middle.

Remove from oven and spread sour cream over top. Evenly sprinkle bacon crumbs onto sour cream. Return to oven for 10 minutes.

Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cheesecake. Let cake cool in the pan completely, then cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Serve slices of cheesecake with a salad.