Devon Blue is a pleasantly salty blue cheese made from Ayrshire milk by Robin Congdon at Sharpham Barton Dairy, near Totnes. I made up this recipe several years ago to feature Beenleigh Blue but it works equally well with Devon Blue.

The key to the recipe is to cut, or crumble, the cheese into cubes, which are then folded into the soufflé mixture immediately before baking. They soften during cooking but remain as distinctly powerful Devon Blue bites throughout the tart - instead of being lost in the bechamel sauce base. Separating the eggs may seem an overcomplication to the recipe but believe me, the result is a spectacularly light and delicious tart.

Serves 4-6 as a main course served with warm potato salad and vegetables; or 8 as a starter with salad leaves.

Ingredients - serves 4-6

for the pastry:
200g plain flour
100g unsalted butter
1 egg
1 tsp salt

for the filling:
225g young spinach leaves
250g streaky bacon, chopped - or diced bacon
225g Devon Blue, roughly crumbled
50g grated Parmesan
3 eggs, separated
400ml milk
40g unsalted butter
40g plain flour
salt, pepper

Method

1 Set the oven to 180ºC
Place the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and pulse until incorporated. Add the egg and process until the dough forms a ball, stop immediately. Roll and line a 28cm buttered tart tin and place in the fridge for 1/2hour before using.

2 Chop the bacon into small pieces (or used diced bacon) and fry off in a little olive oil until crisp, drain and reserve. Blanch the baby spinach leaves in salted boiling water for 1 minute until wilted, drain, squeeze out excess liquid and reserve.

3 Now make the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, add the flour and cook to a foam over a low heat. Add seasoning and the milk and whisk constantly until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat and beat in the egg yolks and grated Parmesan.

4 Prick the pastry base with a fork, pop in the oven for 5 minutes - or until the pastry looks dry. Remove from the oven and spread the spinach and bacon evenly across the base. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until you have stiff peaks. With a metal spoon, fold the egg whites and cubes of Devon Blue into the cheese béchamel sauce with a gentle cutting and folding action. Check seasoning. Spread the mixture over the bacon and spinach and return to the oven for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden. Serve straight from the oven.