Goat's cheese, basil and walnut wontons

Don't worry I haven't taken leave of my senses. Although worringly, I am pretty sure I've started off another story by saying the same thing. Which would lead me to believe that I too often act or say things that sound completely batty. I am talking about filling "fried" wontons rather than the boiled ones with goat's cheese. I got the idea for these from the Donna Hay Magazine that I was reading at Corelli's Cafe and is based on what I could remember. Relying on my memory made me a little hesitant but they worked so well that I think my memory of it was fairly accurate (for once).

One reason why I like this recipe is because of my deep frying phobia. I am terrified of hot oil in case I get splattered and never deep fry anything. My mother on the other hand will happily do it so it's not like I miss out on deep fried goodness (is that an oxymoron?). They're also fabulous finger food for parties which can be made ahead of time, just brush them with oil before popping into oven.

Don't think that you need to use goat's cheese. If you can't get goat's cheese, cream cheese or another soft cheese will do, indeed a combination of cheese would be fine. I didn't have a lot of goat's cheese so I used what I had left and then used light cream cheese.

Goat's cheese, basil and walnut wontons

• 120g goat's cheese (or combination of cheeses, including at least one soft cheese)

• 1/4 bunch of basil leaves with 24 whole basil leaves reserved (I used purple Thai basil), the rest torn up

• 1/4 cup walnuts chopped

• 24 wonton wrappers

• water for sealing

• oil for brushing

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200c. Mix cheese, walnuts and torn up basil leaves.

Step 2 - On baking parchment lay out 12 wonton wrappers, place a single basil leaf in the centre and then using 2 teaspoons, dollop 1 teaspoon of cheese mixture on top of leaf. Add another whole basil leaf in the centre on top of this.

Step 3 - Wet edges with water and press down to seal well

Step 4 - Using pastry brush, brush oil lightly over both sides of the sealed wontons and bake for 7-8 minutes. These burn quickly so watch them and don't cook them over the specified time.

Step 5 - Serve with sweet chili sauce or other dipping sauce.

Recipe adapted from Donna Hay magazine