Cheese on toast is something that is very quick to prepare and perfect for a tasty snack or even for a meal.
This article was previously published on Associated Content.
There are so many ways that you can prepare cheese on toast, and I will even pass on my secret way of cooking it to perfection as well.
What Is Cheese On Toast?
One thing it’s not is just slices of cheese placed on a piece of toast, it’s far more than that.
Well ok, scientifically that is actually cheese on toast, but to make it properly, you need to melt the cheese on the toast, and do it properly you need to prepare it correctly before placing it under the grill.
Isn’t This The Same As Welsh Rarebit?
Well yes it can be, but traditional Welsh Rarebit is made by making a blend of grated cheese, mustard and other ingredients, spreading these on the bread, and then toasting it.
The method I am going to describe here doesn’t require any mixing up of ingredients, just slicing or grating of your cheese.
Basic Cheese On Toast Recipe
Depending on how hungry everyone is and whether this is just a snack, a dish to serve with a meal, or a full meal, you need to decide how many slices of toast per person.
I usually allow 2 slices per person, so let’s firstly take our slices of bread, and put them to one side.
Now prepare your cheese, and either a mild to medium Cheddar (medium or sharp Cheddar in the USA) works well.
You can either thinly slice your cheese, or grate it, depending on preference and how much cheese you want to use. It takes a bit longer to grate the cheese, but you can use less that way, however grated cheese can be prone to falling off the bread, and makes a mess in the grill.
Now for my secret preparation tips…
ONE Cheese on toast cooks best if done on a grill pan under a gas grill (or broiler in the USA), where the gas flame is above the cheese. It does work ok in a toaster over, but a gas grill will give you the crispest toast and also melt the cheese better.
TWO Preheat the grill with the grill pan in it, so that the bread will begin to toast quickly. This makes the toast crisper rather than moist and soggy.
THREE Place the bread on the grill and toast just one side. If using the crust from the end of the loaf, place this crust upwards, since you want to place the cheese on the soft side.
FOUR When the bread has toasted on one side, take it out of the grill, and thinly butter the untoasted side. You should only need a small amount of butter, and only the outside crust needs buttering, not the middle, since the oil from the cheese will moisten this.
FIVE Now place the slices of cheese on the bread (or sprinkle your grated cheese), making sure to cover as much of the bread as possible, but not allowing the cheese to overhang the edge of the toast. If the cheese overhangs, it will just melt and drip all over the grill, and make a nice mess for you to clean up afterwards.
SIX A key step… Place the bread back on the grill pan and put it under the grill, changing the grill setting to low. This will allow the cheese to melt slowly, rather than causing the toast to burn and leaving the cheese still fairly solid.
SEVEN Keep an eye on the cheese, and when it either looks as if the cheese has melted well, or the bread crust is starting to darken, crank up the grill so that the cheese starts to bubble nicely and also starts to brown. This brings out the full flavour of the cheese, and will only take a minute or so before it is ready. Be sure to not burn the toast.
EIGHT Turn off the grill and remove the bubbling cheese on toast.
Your cheese on toast is now ready to serve, so place it on plates, cut it into pieces if you wish, and let everyone tuck in.
Great Ways To Enhance Your Cheese On Toast
Use different types of bread.
A nice brown bread with plenty of seeds in it toasts nicely, as does a herby bread. In the UK a Malted Granary loaf is great with cheese.
Buy an uncut loaf and cut generous slices for toasting, rather than thin slices of plain white bread.
Vary Your Types Of Cheese
Rather than just plain old Cheddar, you can experiment with other types of cheese, depending on your taste. Bear in mind that slowly melting the cheese does make the flavour a lot stronger, so don’t overdo it with a really strong cheese.
In the UK you can also use a Lancashire or Cheshire cheese, which are like Cheddar but nice and crumbly and with a slightly different flavour.
Other Items To Put On The Toast
In the UK Marmite is a very popular spread, although most people who have tasted it in the USA (as Marmite or Vegemite) will say that it’s disgusting. This is most likely because it needs to be spread thin and sparing, not thick like peanut butter or jam.
Try spreading Marmite thinly on your bread having buttered it, before laying the cheese on top. This adds a great savoury flavour to the cheese on toast.
Thinly slice tomatoes and place them on the bread before adding the cheese. For added flair, add black pepper to the tomatoes, and if handy some fresh basil leaves. You can also sprinkle dried Italian herbs onto the tomatoes.
Slice some stuffed olives and lay these onto the toast under the cheese. Olives add a wonderful flavour to this dish, especially when they warm up and the oil from the cheese blends with them.
Spread some Salsa on the bread before adding the cheese. This really brings out the taste of the tomatoes and herbs in the Salsa.
Cook sausages (could be Bratwurst or Hot Dogs), slice these in half lengthways, place on the bread and lay the cheese on top.
Items To Put On The Cheese On Toast Before Serving
I personally like to fry some eggs, and when the cheese on toast is ready, put it on the plate, then lay fried eggs on top. The eggs work well with the cheese.
Crispy bacon is nice on top, or pretty much anything you desire.
If serving your cheese on toast with a salad, and not eating it until it cools off, some spinach leaves and other salad items on the plate make this a really tasty meal.
Well there you have my special recipe for Cheese on Toast. I hope you find this yummy and mouth-watering, and have that it makes you want to head out to the kitchen and cook some for yourself.
