By Seren Charrington Hollins

When it comes to lunch at home it is very often a sandwich affair, but the problem with sandwiches is that they can become repetitive. The world of sandwich fillings is seemingly boundless, but certainly in my household there is a tendency to stick to a limited sandwich filling menu.
Indeed, I’ve been left feeling a little uninspired by the thought of a plain old sandwich and indeed I’ve been feeling a little fed up with sandwiches altogether, but my taste buds have not wandered far from the concept of two slices of bread cosseting filling as I’ve been exploring the merits of the toasted sandwich.
I quite enjoy hot sandwiches and I’ve been having great fun playing about with some recipes to take a standard toastie up a notch and here are my favourite recipes for tasty toasties:
Welsh Rarebit Toastie
This is my twist on a Welsh Rarebit Toastie
1 tbsp olive oil
½ brown onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
100g Italian chopped tomatoes
50g tomato purée
4 tbsp of stout or dark ale
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tbsp black treacle
½ x 400g tin black-eyed beans, drained and rinsed
100g grated mature Cheddar
100g grated mozzarella
4 thick slices sourdough bread
10g fresh parsley
10g unsalted butter
Method
Heat the olive oil in a nonstick saucepan on a medium-high heat, add the onion and cook for 4 mins until soft, without browning it. Add the garlic and cook for 1 min.
Add the chopped tomatoes, 50ml water, tomato purée, mustard powder, black treacle, add the dark ale and season. Stir to combine and cook for 5 mins until thickened slightly.
Add the black eyed beans to the sauce, stir to combine and cook for a further 3mins until thick and saucy.
Layer half the mozzarella and Cheddar onto two thickly sliced pieces of sourdough bread, compact the cheese by pressing it down onto the bread with your hands. Season with salt and pepper.
Evenly spoon some of the mixture on top of the grated cheese. Sprinkle over some parsley leaves, add the rest of the cheese and top each with the other slices of sourdough bread.
Heat a knob of butter in a large frying pan on a medium heat. Add the toasties to the pan and cook for 2 mins on each side until the bread is golden and crispy and cheese is melted. Cut in half to serve.
Best Served piping hot !
Nectarine and Cheese Toasties.
This makes for a nice change, sweet and juicy nectarines with rich melted cheese is delicious!
Ingredients
1 nectarine, halved and stoned
Walnut oil, for greasing
25g salted butter, softened
8 thick slices sourdough bread or white bloomer
150g mature Cheddar, grated
120g Gruyère cheese, grated
120g plain soft cream cheese
8 thyme sprigs, leaves picked and stalks discarded
Method
Heat a flat griddle pan or heavy frying pan over a medium-low heat.
Cut the nectarine into thin slices, about ½ cm thick. Brush with a little oil and grill the nectarines for 2-3 mins, until charred but not burnt. Set aside.
Butter both sides of the sliced bread. Lay spread the soft cream cheese onto the bread, then layer the nectarine slices, then divide the grated cheese between half of the bread. Top with the thyme leaves and sandwich with the remaining slices. Press down firmly to compact.
Arrange as many sandwiches as will fit onto your pan, and fry for 3-4 mins each side, until crispy and golden and the cheese has melted.
There are so many colourful toasted sandwich combinations to be enjoyed. Even simple delights such as cheddar cheese can be pepped up with a few slices of apple and a splash of Mushroom ketchup or Worcester sauce.
So , be adventurous and enjoy a splendid Sarnie!