I posted a little while ago about the recipes we cooked at the last U3A cooking group, including a gorgeous Pad Thai, and this creamy leek and cheese toasty. I was sure I had also posted the recipe for the toasty, but apparently not! So here it is.

Creamy Leek And Cheese Toasty

10g butter, 99p/250g, 4p
2 medium leeks, not too big. If your leeks are those really big ones, one will do. Loose leeks £1.50/kg, 300g 45p
Two sprigs thyme, just the leaves, 69p/20g, 5g, 15p
2 tblsps double cream, 600ml/£1.69, 8p
35g strong cheddar, grated, SP £3.59/830g, 15p
2 thick slices bread, or 4 slices value bread, 50p/800g, 9p

Serves 2. Priced at Asda January 2017
Total cost 96p, so 48p a serving
Nutrition: per serving, 430 calories, 13g protein, 52g carbs, 19g fat

Trim the leeks, we only want the white and pale green parts here. Use the dark green parts for stock. I’ve guessed the weight of the leeks, you may well need less than 300g.

Carefully wash the leeks to remove any grit and make sure you remove all the washing water. Slice finely.

Sauté the leeks in the butter until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in thyme and cream and heat until gently bubbling. Remove from the heat and stir through the grated cheese. Add any seasoning.

Preheat the grill. Toast the bread on one side. Flip over, pile on the leek mixture and grill until bubbling and golden.

Serve immediately

Verdict

This quick and easy meal is utterly delicious. The thing that takes the most time is preparing the leeks.
I would happily eat this as a main meal, on its own, with a side salad or some lovely ripe summer tomatoes.
It’s like cheese on toast, it doesn’t keep, so enjoy it straight away.

Variations

I have enjoyed this on both toasted artisan bread and sliced value bread, both were delicious.

I haven’t tried it using onions instead of leeks, but I see no reason why that wouldn’t work using either white or red onions.

Any cheese that you have could be substituted for the strong cheddar.

Brie would make a mild and extra creamy version, and perhaps you could miss out the cream and add a splash of milk.

As cream is the fat from milk, if you have no cream, use a small knob of butter and two tablespoons of milk.

You could spread this much thinner and use it as a filled toasty type sandwich. In this case, don’t toast the bread, but fry the sandwich gently in a little fat in a frying pan.

It would be glorious topped with a poached egg or a crispy rasher

A couple of chopped sun dried tomatoes would be wonderful stirred through the mixture, or a smear of Marmite on the toast before topping. Perhaps a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce on top, or a chopped chilli mixed in. Tomato ketchup or HP if you must!

You can really taste the thyme, so it’s well worth using if you can get some.

Origins

I found this recipe in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls book Veg Everyday. When I cooked this with my cooking group, I omitted to take any pictures, so the delightful illustrations are from Hugh’s book. The photographer is Simon Wheeler