Double Cheese & Caramelised Leek Toastie | One Pot One Portion
This double cheese grilled cheese with caramelised leeks and tomato relish is the best grilled cheese I have ever tried. That is not an exaggeration! The perfect combination of cheese pairs perfectly with sweet leeks and the spiced tomato relish finishes everything off. Someone may have to stop me from eating this every day!
Hello readers! I'm Eleanor..
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About this dish
Cheese and leeks are a classic combination and the sharp punch of the cheese with the sweetness of caramelised leeks goes together so well. The relish adds spice and a little extra sweetness and together it makes the ULTIMATE grilled cheese. I don't want to exaggerate but I think it's the best I've ever eaten.
While a grilled cheese can consist solely of cheese and bread, this feels slightly more elevated and more like a full meal with the addition of the leeks and relish (plus the use of two different types of cheese).
Caramelising leeks seems like it will take a while but because we're only using half a leek it really only takes about 5 minutes before you get golden brown colour and sweet flavour. It's 5 minutes you don't want to skip.
If you like this recipe you might also like my other ONE POT ONE PORTION LUNCH IDEAS. Visit my recipe page and filter by meal type and select lunch!
Why you want to make this recipe
15 Minute Meal
This isn't the most complicated recipe so it's perfect for a super quick and easy lunch or dinner for one! You just need one pan and the whole meal is cooked on the hob so you don't even need to turn the oven on.
Ultimate Comfort Food
A cheese toastie is the ultimate comfort food but this version specifically goes the extra mile! Double cheese means you get maximum flavour and the best texture, caramelised leeks brings sweetness and depth and the relish rounds everything off perfectly.
One Pot Recipe
As with all of my recipes, this is a one pot dish or one pan dish, which makes every meal time easier and more enjoyable. Cooking for one is hard so only having one dish at the end of the meal keeps this feeling easy and accessible-because it is!
Single-Serve
Again, as always, this recipe is for single-serve tacos so you can make this just for yourself! The perfect dinner for one. Though it would be very easy to scale up to serve multiple people if needed.
Top Tips
The perfect golden crust
- The perfect golden crust of a toastie comes from brushing the outside of the bread with butter (or mayonnaise actually!) then cooking the toastie in a pan. As the butter melts, the bread toasts in the fat and gets deliciously golden and crunchy.
Ingredients and Tools
Bread
- You can use any bread you like for a toastie though I would personally avoid a seriously crusty sourdough. Once toasted, I find that the texture of an exceptionally crusty crust can take over from the soft, oozy centre of a grilled cheese.
(Double) Cheese
- I think there are a couple of different cheeses that are the best for making a toastie and it depends on your toastie goals! If you're looking for the ultimate cheese pull then you want to use a semi-hard cheese like mozzarella or a dutch cheese like gouda or edam. If you're looking for sharp and punchy flavour use a mature cheddar, if you're looking for a gooey, more funky flavour then a semi-soft cheese like brie or camembert is great. Personally I love using two different cheeses in my toastie for the ultimate flavour and texture combination and my ultimate combination would be either a dutch cheese with a brie, or a cheddar with mozzarella.
Caramelised Leeks
- Caramelised leeks bring a slight sweetness to this toastie which compliments the punchy flavours of the cheese really well. Make sure to season well with black pepper for a little kick too.
Ballymaloe Relish
- The best relish you can get, this gently spiced relish is PERFECT for cheese and makes the best addition to a toastie.
Pan with a Lid
- The key to a perfectly golden toastie with a molten cheese centre is cooking it in a pan with a lid. The contact with the pan is where you'll get the crispy crust, and the lid will trap the heat in the pan, ensuring that the cheese in the middle is fully melted before the crust gets too dark.
Step by Step Instructions
Caramelise the leeks: Add a knob of butter to a pan and place over a medium heat. Add the leeks to the pan along with a splash of water and cook with a lid on for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the leeks are cooked.
Assemble the toastie: Take 1 slice of bread then butter the outside. Flip over so the buttered side is on your board then spoon over the relish and spread out evenly. Top with one of the cheeses, then the leeks, then the other cheese then put the other piece of bread on top, with the buttered side up.
Cook the toastie: Place the pan back on a medium-low heat (you can use a piece of kitchen roll to clean the pan if you like, but any butter or leek left in the pan will add to the flavour so this isn't essential). Place a lid on the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side until the outside of the bread is golden and the cheese in the middle has melted. Serve and enjoy
Variations, Substitutions or Modifications
Gluten Free:
To make this recipe gluten-free all you need to do is use your favourite gluten bread. Other than that you're good to go!
Vegetarian:
This recipe is already vegetarian!
FAQs
What cheese makes the best toastie?
- I think there are a couple of different cheeses that are the best for making a toastie and it depends on your toastie goals! If you're looking for the ultimate cheese pull then you want to use a semi-hard cheese like mozzarella or a dutch cheese like gouda or edam. If you're looking for sharp and punchy flavour use a mature cheddar, if you're looking for a gooey, more funky flavour then a semi-soft cheese like brie or camembert is great. Personally I love using two different cheeses in my toastie for the ultimate flavour and texture combination and my ultimate combination would be either a dutch cheese with a brie, or a cheddar with mozzarella.
Can I make a double portion?
- You can easily double up this single-serve recipe just by doubling the ingredients.
Ingredients
For 1 Toastie,You Need:
- 1/2 Leek, sliced into thin semi-circles
- Butter
- 2 Slices of Bread
- 25-50g Cheddar/Gouda/Edam, sliced (amount will depend on the size of your bread)
- 25-50g Mozzarella/Brie/Camembert, sliced (amount will depend on the size of your bread)
- 1 Tbsp Ballymaloe Relish
- Salt
- Black Pepper
Instructions
- Add a knob of butter to a pan and place over a medium heat.
- Add the leeks to the pan along with a splash of water and cook with a lid on for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the leeks are cooked.
- Take 1 slice of bread then butter the outside. Flip over so the buttered side is on your board then spoon over the relish and spread out evenly.
- Top with one of the cheeses, then the leeks, then the other cheese then put the other piece of bread on top, with the buttered side up.
- Place the pan back on a medium-low heat (you can use a piece of kitchen roll to clean the pan if you like, but any butter or leek left in the pan will add to the flavour so this isn't essential). Place a lid on the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side until the outside of the bread is golden and the cheese in the middle has melted.
- Serve and enjoy
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Great present! Bought this for my sister who cooks for one. She absolutely loved it finding it inspiring! So many great recipes to motivate and keep you cooking when it's just you eating!
Great present! Bought this for my sister who cooks for one. She absolutely loved it finding it inspiring! So many great recipes to motivate and keep you cooking when it's just you
Follow Eleanor on socials and knew I NEEDED this book immediately! SO glad I paid extra and had it shipped from the UK (to US). Eleanor's voice is loud and clear in every recipe. The pictures are beautiful, the instructions are perfectly clear, and I want to make EVERYTHING. I cannot recommend this book enough!
This recipe book is stunning and fulfils its role brilliantly in catering for individuals who want to eat delicious meals, but don't want to prepare family sized portions or devote their entire evening to cooking. Who'd believe you could make an entire roast for one person and only use one pan in the process! She is a genius and I couldn't recommend this book any more highly.
One of the best things about the book is that all the recipes are actually cooked in one pot - in a lot of other so-called books you still have to make your side dish in a separate pot. With these recipes, even if they include rice or pasta, it's all cooked together. No mountains of washing up!
This is the book I've been waiting for! I (very happily!) live alone, love to cook and read cookery books, but every recipe is for two people or more. This gorgeous book contains recipes perfectly proportioned for one person (and I'm always a very hungry one person!) which ensures more variety, less food waste, and pure, gluttonous joy.
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