5 Mahón-Menorca PDO Cheese Recipes to Cook at Home
Mahón-Menorca PDO cheese isn’t just for a cheese board. It’s a cheese that melts beautifully, gratins into a perfect golden crust, and adds an intense, lingering flavour to any dish. These five recipes prove it.
1. Cured Mahón cheese croquettes
Cheese croquettes are a classic, but with cured Mahón they reach another level. The intense flavour of the cured cheese holds up perfectly to frying and leaves a lingering salty base.
Ingredients for 20 croquettes:
- 100 g cured Mahón cheese, grated
- 60 g butter
- 80 g flour
- 600 ml whole milk
- Salt, white pepper and nutmeg
- Breadcrumbs, egg and oil for frying
Method:
Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and toast it 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in the hot milk, whisking without stopping, until you get a thick béchamel. Off the heat, add the grated cheese and mix until melted. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Spread on a tray, cover with cling film touching the surface, and chill 4 hours. Shape the croquettes, coat in egg and breadcrumbs, and deep-fry in hot oil.
Cured Mahón cheese is perfect for this recipe because it has less moisture than the mild one, giving more flavour with less quantity.
2. Baked pasta with semi-cured Mahón cheese
An oven-baked pasta dish that becomes something special when semi-cured Mahón is the cheese gratinated on top. The golden crust and creamy interior make it impossible to resist.
Ingredients for 4:
- 400 g pasta (penne or rigatoni)
- 200 g semi-cured Mahón cheese, thinly sliced
- 400 ml cooking cream
- 2 garlic cloves
- Salt, pepper and fresh thyme
Method:
Cook the pasta al dente. In a pan, sauté the sliced garlic in olive oil, add the cream and reduce 5 minutes. Season. Mix the pasta with the sauce and place in a baking dish. Cover with the Mahón cheese slices and bake at 200°C for 12 minutes until the cheese is golden. Finish with fresh thyme.
3. Mild Mahón cheese crostini with Menorca honey
The most Menorcan appetizer there is. Three ingredients, five minutes, and the result is the perfect bite to start any meal.
Ingredients for 12 crostini:
- 12 baguette slices
- 150 g mild Mahón cheese
- 3 tbsp Menorca honey
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh thyme or rosemary
Method:
Toast the bread slices in the oven at 180°C for 8 minutes until golden. Top each with a slice of mild cheese. Return to the oven 3 minutes to warm the cheese through. Off the heat, drizzle with Menorca honey, a few thyme leaves and a splash of olive oil. Serve immediately.
Menorca honey with mild cheese is the island’s most classic pairing. If you can, use rosemary honey — the combination is spectacular.
4. Mahón cheese and sobrasada tortilla
The Spanish tortilla elevated with two icons of Menorcan gastronomy. The cheese melts inside the tortilla and the sobrasada adds a spiced, unctuous touch that changes everything.
Ingredients for 2:
- 4 eggs
- 80 g semi-cured Mahón cheese, diced small
- 60 g Menorcan sobrasada
- 1 small onion
- Olive oil and salt
Method:
Slowly cook the onion in olive oil until translucent and sweet — about 15 minutes. Add the sobrasada in pieces and let it melt for 2 minutes. Beat the eggs with salt, add the diced cheese and the onion-sobrasada mixture. Set the tortilla in a non-stick pan over medium heat, flipping once golden underneath. The centre should stay slightly runny.
5. Mahón cheese and spinach savoury tart
A Menorcan quiche that works as a main course or for a picnic. The cured cheese adds depth of flavour and the spinach balances it out.
Ingredients for 6:
- 1 sheet shortcrust pastry
- 150 g cured Mahón cheese, grated
- 200 g fresh spinach
- 3 eggs
- 200 ml cream
- 1 garlic clove
- Salt, pepper and nutmeg
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a tart tin with the pastry and blind-bake 10 minutes with baking paper and weights on top. Sauté the garlic and spinach until wilted. Beat the eggs with the cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the spinach and half the cheese. Pour over the pre-baked base, top with the remaining cheese and bake 30 minutes until set and golden.
Where to buy Mahón cheese in Menorca
All these recipes work best with freshly cut cheese. At our four s’Aturadeta shops in Mahón and Sant Climent we cut the cheese to order and vacuum-pack it for free so it arrives home in perfect condition.
Want to pair it with sobrasada, honey or gin in a gourmet basket? Build your own basket here.
