Great to serve at barbecues or when you are sipping tequilas, this warm dip is based on a runny cheese and cream sauce that gets its chunky texture from tasty pieces of onion, tomato and jalapeno pepper.

Ingredients

1 large onion
2 teaspoons olive oil
5 medium tomatoes
2 jalapeno peppers or 1 tablespoon chopped jalapeno peppers in brine
200g (7oz) Red Leicester cheese
100ml (3 1/2 fl oz) double cream
Salt and black pepper
Tabasco sauce
To garnish: 2 sprigs of coriander
To serve: corn chips, soft tortillas or pitta breads

Directions

1 Preheat the oven to moderate. Put a kettle of water on to boil.

2 Peel and chop the onion and fry it in the oil in a small saucepan over a low heat for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.

3 Peel the tomatoes and cut them into quarters. Remove and discard the seeds, slice the flesh finely and set aside.

4 Rinse, dry, halve, deseed and finely chop the jalapeno peppers, if necessary, and set aside. Grate the cheese and set it aside.

5 Put the corn chips, tortillas or pitta breads into the oven to heat.

6 Add the cream to the softened onions in the pan and raise the heat. Just before the cream reaches simmering point, add the cheese and stir until it melts.

7 Add the tomatoes and jalapenos to the pan and stir gently. Season carefully to taste with salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce.

8 Rinse, dry and strip the coriander leaves from the stems. Pour the dip into a warm serving bowl, garnish with the coriander and serve with corn chips or with fingers of soft tortilla or pitta bread.