Well, here we are in lockdown again… a bit weary this time, a bit jaded. So we want a quick lunch which doesn’t need much effort, but which has some zing, will imbue us with some much needed get-up-and-go. A dish, effectively, involving mustard.
The Daily Telegraph runs a weekly series which looks at five things food lovers find they can’t do without.
Inspiration came for this Treat-On-Toast came from Ainsley Harriott, presenter of Can’t Cook, Won’t Cook and Ready, Steady, Cook.
There’s comfort aplenty among his suggestions – “If my sister is visiting, we always have a cup of cocoa with a drop of Bailey’s – heaven”, he reveals. He extols the virtues of sumac. And he offers this cheesy delight, explaining:
“I have a little bit of grated cheddar, spring onion and black pepper with Grey Poupon wholegrain mustard on my toast, under the grill. The secret is to add a little mayo to the mix.”
This is my version.
Recipe for Ainsley Harriott’s quick and cheesy Treat-on-Toast
Serves – 3
Ingredients
- 3 pieces of bread – ideally sourdough
- butter
- 125g/5 oz/1½ cups grated cheddar cheese
- 3 spring onions
- 1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
- 1 heaped tbsp mayonnaise
- Generous grinds of pepper – Indonesian long pepper ideally
Instructions
- Get the bread toasting, and the grill heating up.
- Meanwhile empty the cheese into a small mixing bowl and snip in the spring onions having removed any dry, papery, exterior layer. Snip the white, and about an inch/five cms of the green part.
- Mix in the mustard, mayonnaise and pepper.
- Butter the toast and put it on to a lined grill tray. Top with the cheese mix. Grill until the cheese melts and is turning golden.
- Serve… perhaps with a green salad with another couple of spring onions mixed in.
