Before I share my simple baked camembert recipe with you, let me tell you a bit more about Kalettes and why I love them so much.
When you get to your mid-thirties, you don’t really expect to try new vegetables you’d never heard before, do you? Well, until last year, I thought I’d tried most vegetables, then I was told about Kalettes and I’ve been eating them ever since and experimenting with them. They can be eaten raw, blanched, steamed, sautéed, grilled, roasted, blended in smoothies… Check my 12 ways to cook with Kalettes here.
10 Facts about Kalettes:
1- Kalettes are a cross between kale and Brussel sprouts.
2- They are not as bitter as kale. They’re not as distinctive in taste as Brussel sprouts.
3- It took British vegetable seed house Tozer Seeds 15 years to develop the vegetable.
4- Kalettes are not genetically modified. They were developed through traditional hybridisation.
5- Kalettes are from the Brassica species, which includes amongst others cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.
6- They are incredibly versatile (check my post here) and delicious.
7- 100g of Kalettes contains double the amount of vitamin B6 and vitamin C than Brussel sprouts. They are also rich in vitamin K, a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and liver detoxifier.
8- They are in season in Europe between November and April. You can freeze them (wash and dry them thoroughly first) so you can still have them when the season is over!
9- Just like kale, it’s a natural detoxifier. According to Maria Dow, NHS Dietician and writer, Kalettes are beneficial for the heart, intestines and immune system.
10- It’s a feel good vegetable! Kalettes are grown in Britain by a group of producers practising sustainable farming. Kalettes’ vegetable residue is also used to produce green electricity and heat as part of a no-waste policy that makes communities more self-sufficient.
Kalettes also support various charities, and all the proceeds raised at a pop-up store set up in London a few months ago were donated to Cherry Trees, a British charity that provides respite care for children and young adults with severe learning and physical disabilities. The charity, based in Guildford, is all about making sure they provide meaningful support for families and specialist care for their children.
Kalettes are available more and more widely and I’ve just added some to my Tesco online shop being delivered on Tuesday. You can also find them at Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, M&S, Aldi, the Coop, Morrisons and Home Bargains.
Check out this short video about the super veg:
A few months ago, I went to a Kalettes pop-up store in London and chef Bridget Colvin treated us to a range of delicious and innovative creations. We sampled Kalettes lollipops, blanched Kalettes served with baked camembert, cream of Kalettes soup, Kalettes, cheese and salmon bagels, Kalettes smoothies and many more delicious dishes.
A few days after the pop-up store event, I made Bridget’s soup, which was a hit. I then decided too recreate her simple baked camembert with blanched Kalettes, but I didn’t have the recipe for it, so guesswork was involved and it worked out beautifully!
I normally serve baked camembert with a lot of bread, so swapping the carbs for crunchy greens is pretty refreshing, and it really works! I also used walnuts from my mum’s garden. They were so good! You could use any type of runny honey, but my absolute favourite is acacia honey. It really add a little ‘je ne sais quoi’ to this recipe.
A Simple Baked Camembert Recipe
Ingredients
- A small French camembert
- 200 g Kalettes
- Olive oil
- white wine
- fresh thyme
- runny honey
- walnuts
- vegetable sticks
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven at 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit, gas mark 5).
- To blanch the Kalettes, place them in boiling water for a minute and then plunge them into ice water to stop them from cooking further. They will be perfectly crunchy! Place them on sticks and leave them to cool before serving.
- Pierce the camembert 4 or 5 times with a knife and place it on a baking tray. Drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of white wine over the camembert, add on a few sprigs of thyme.
- Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
- Take the thyme off and replace with fresh sprigs. Serve straight away, with vegetable sticks and the Kalettes, encouraging your guests to spoon the baked camembert onto Kalettes, with a drizzle of honey and a walnut.
Disclosure: This blog post is sponsored by Kalettes, but all opinions and photos are my own.
Camembert is one of my faves but I’m dairy free now so I can’t havr it. Kalettes sound great though as I love kale
Oh that’s a pain. Tesco do nice lactose-free cheeses but I don’t think any dairy-free cheese would be nice enough to compete with a baked camembert 🙁
I’ve never heard of Kalettes before, and is it really bad that I’ve still not actually tried Kale?! I really need to branch out a bit more and try some new things, and your baked Camembert sounds like a delicious way to introduce a new vegetable into our lives! x
I really don’t like kale! It’s bitter and just not my cup of tea, but Kalettes are really yummy, and full of goodness 🙂
Oh yum, you can’t beat baked Camembert! I love those little Kalettes, I’m a sucker for quirky fruit and veg and sprouts are my favourite vegetable, so win win!
Me too! Sprouts are soooo good, and you can’t beat a baked Camembert as a sharing starter 🙂
This looks soooo good! Like you I normally eat baked camembert with plenty of bread but I’ll give this a go next time:)
It really is a nice alternative to carbs, and I kid you not, it’s just as moreish as Camembert with bread 🙂
I’ve never heard of kalettes but I am obsessed with kale and not adverse to Brussel sprouts so will have to give it a try!
Go on, try them. You know you want to, Talya 🙂
ooh i would never have thought of serving it with greens. Great idea Mel
Me neither, then Bridget made us try that combination and now there’s no going back!
I love kale AND Brussels sprouts so I can’t believe I haven’t tried Kalettes yet!! I’m definitely going to get some!
Oh gosh, if you love them both then Kalettes need to go on your shopping list!
I had to click over to your other post to to read more about kalettes. I’m so intrigued. I hope I can find them here in Ohio at some point. I enjoy both kale and brussels sprouts – and these kalettes are so pleasing to look at. I really want to try them! Plus melty cheese… what more could you want?!?
They’re absolutely perfect! Apparently, they’re really popular in the US too so if you look for them, I’m pretty sure you could find them.
I love baked camambert! It’s one of the most decadent things in the world – so delicious and perfect for hosting too! Looks so good ♥
It’s one of my favourite sharing foods. It’s quick and easy to put together and everyone loves it!
I saw kalettes on the big family cooking showdown and I’ve been so interested in learning more about them. They look and sound delicious! I bet they go really well with this bake camembert.
They work beautifully with baked camembert. Fresh yet cheesy!
A completely new one on me, I have never heard of them at all… Sadly living in the food backwater of rurual Hungary means it will likely be a longtime before they make it to the shelves. I do love playing with new foods though and they sound really interesting.
I’m sure they’ll make their way to you at some point! They’re really delicious 🙂
We are HUGE fabs of Kalettes in our house….. They almost taste creamy when you bite into them. I haven’t had them with Camembert though…… I imagine they pair perfectly! Thanks for linking with #G2BGF. Good to have you on board x
They do work beautifully together! Kalettes are so good and versatile, aren’t they?
I love kalettes, we ALL love kalettes! My two still call broccoli little trees and runner beans ‘running’ beans (they make you go faster don’t you know 😉 ) so these are just baby open cabbages. To couple them with melted creamy camembert is just pure genius xx
Awwwww, running beans 🙂 Kalettes are the future. The people at Tozer seeds are so clever for turning Kale into something as cute as mini cabbages and as good as Brussel sprouts!