Name: Ham and Cheese Toastie
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 13 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 4 slices white bread, about 160 g; 20 g butter, softened; 4 slices ham, about 80 g; 100 g cheddar, grated; 1 tsp Dijon mustard

Ham and Cheese Toastie

Buttered white bread filled with sliced ham and cheddar, fried until golden and the cheese has melted.

13 min total Serves 2 servings Easy

The Case for Ham and Cheese Toastie

Why does a toastie from a pan taste better than one from a toaster? Because the butter fries the bread. The outside goes crisp and gold, and the heat travels slowly enough to melt the cheese all the way through.

Butter the outside of the bread, not the inside. Put the ham on first and the cheese on top of it, so that the cheese sits against the heat and melts down over the ham. Keep the heat at medium-low. If it is too hot, the bread burns long before the cheese softens.

Fry for 4 minutes on one side, press gently with a spatula, turn and fry for 4 minutes more. The bread should be deep gold and the cheese should ooze at the edges.

Leave it for a minute before cutting, so the cheese does not run out. Thinly sliced ham melts into the cheese, while thick slices tend to slide out of the sandwich.

Build the Meal Around Ham and Cheese Toastie

Tomato soup
Pickles
Green salad
Crisps

Making Ham and Cheese Toastie, Step by Step

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Butter one side of each slice of bread and spread the other with the mustard.
Build two sandwiches with the mustard inside, the ham first and the cheese on top.
Fry in a pan over a medium-low heat for 4 minutes until golden, pressing gently.
Turn and fry for 4 minutes more until the cheese melts. Rest for 1 minute and cut in half.

Worth Knowing Before You Cook

Butter the outside of the bread.

Put the cheese against the heat.

Keep the pan on medium-low.

Rest it before cutting.

Leftovers

Best eaten straight away. Keeps in the fridge for 1 day, reheated in a dry pan.