Gooey, sweet or sharp, there's a cheese ripe for the occasion.

WINTRY gratins with potato or cauliflower and gruyere. Creamy risottos finished with parmigiano reggiano. Rich pastas and gnocchi con quattro formaggio. Savoury goat's cheese souffles, retro fondues and even grilled cheese on toast. With so many wonderful cheeses, where do you start?

Well, don't choose boring, packaged cheese as we have so many fresh market delis and specialist cheese provedores. Plan a trip to the cheeserooms at Simon Johnson, Fitzroy and Toorak, or Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder, where you will see cheese presented at its best. Or better still, a lovely country drive to the farm gate to pick up the local specialty, or visit your local farmers' market.

I used fresh ricotta for the baked cheesecake and lightened it with beaten egg whites. The grapes poached in moscato turn this into a special dinner party dessert. Ricotta cheese is made from whey. It is a low-fat cheese with a delicate, mild flavour and is best used within a couple of days. If you have only ever used packaged ricotta from the supermarket, you should try to search out some really fresh ricotta. You will certainly notice the difference.

Taleggio is a washed rind cheese made in Italy. Slightly salty and creamy, with a buttery texture, the natural rind is also edible and contributes to its distinctive flavour. I recommend it with some thinly sliced prosciutto and pear on a homemade pizza base, topped with fresh rocket and drizzled with some excellent aged balsamic vinegar.

The salad combines the sweetness of roasted sweet potatoes and red onion, with hazelnuts and creamy blue cheese. Its robust flavours are perfect for this time of year. If you don't like blue cheese, you could easily substitute a delicious creamy marinated fetta.

Warm salad of blue cheese, sweet potato and hazelnuts with watercress

INGREDIENTS
For the salad
1 large sweet potato (about 550g)
1 red onion
1-2 tbsp olive oil
50g hazelnuts
1 bunch of watercress
1 clove garlic, crushed

For the dressing
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
150g creamy blue cheese

METHOD

For the salad

* Preheat oven to 180C. Peel sweet potato, cut in half lengthwise and then cut into 2cm thick slices.

* Peel onion and cut into thick wedges.

* Place vegetables on an oven tray and drizzle with a little olive oil. Roast for about 40 minutes until cooked.

* Place hazelnuts on an oven tray and roast for about 5 minutes to loosen skins.

* Remove from oven and rub off skins in a clean tea towel. Set aside.

* Wash watercress and pick through to remove large stalks.

For the dressing

* Whisk all the ingredients together.

* Place watercress in large salad bowl, add roasted vegetables and hazelnuts and toss with the dressing. Cut the blue cheese into bite-sized pieces and scatter over the salad. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

Ricotta cheesecake with poached grapes

INGREDIENTS

For the cake
750g fresh ricotta (buy in handy 375g tubs, or fresh from the deli)
1 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup thickened cream
4 egg whites
grated rind of 1 lemon
grated rind of 1 orange
2 tbsp softened butter
4 digestive biscuits, crushed (optional)

For the grapes
1 large bunch seedless red grapes
1 cup moscato wine
1-2 tbsp muscovado sugar

METHOD

For the cake

* Preheat oven to 210C. Place ricotta and sugar in a large bowl and mix well.

* Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix until smooth. Stir in cream.

* Whip egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold gently into ricotta mixture along with lemon and orange rind.

* Grease a 20cm round cake tin with butter and sprinkle with biscuit crumbs, if using. ? Pour filling into tin and smooth surface with a spatula.

* Place in oven and bake for 10?minutes, then reduce heat to 180C and cook for another 55 minutes, or until the cake is nicely browned on top and just set. Turn off oven and leave cake to cool completely in oven, if possible.

For the grapes

* Wash the grapes and cut into smaller bunches. Put wine and sugar into a small non-stick pan and place over low heat. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add grapes, bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, until grapes are soft and syrup is slightly reduced.

* Serve slices of cheesecake with the warm, poached grapes and syrup.

Serves 4-6

Pizza with taleggio, prosciutto and pear

INGREDIENTS

For the pizza dough
500g OO flour
1 tbsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt
300ml warm water
2 tbsp olive oil

For the topping
1-2 tbsp olive oil
300g taleggio
8 slices prosciutto
2 pears, finely sliced
handful fresh rocket

METHOD

For the dough

* Mix flour, yeast and salt. Mix water with oil and add to other ingredients. Knead until smooth and elastic. (Add more flour if dough seems too sticky.)

* Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic film and allow to double (about 90 minutes). Knock back and allow to rise again for about 30?minutes.

* Divide dough into four and roll into pizza-sized rounds.

* Place a cooking stone in your oven and preheat oven to 250C or use a benchtop pizza maker.

To assemble

* Drizzle a little oil on to pizza base, top with some slices of taleggio, a couple of slices of prosciutto and some pear.

* Cook in pizza maker for about 5?minutes until base is cooked and crisp (or in conventional oven for 8-10 minutes).

* Remove from oven and scatter with some fresh rocket.

Serves 4