Crisp toast, lightly burned at the edges, with a cargo of melting cheese is to my mind the ultimate snack. Spike it with mustard and I am probably at my happiest, but I do play around with the genre too: a layer of apple or homemade chutney under the cheese; a few bitter leaves of chicory or hot watercress on the side; a few capers, maybe. Sometimes I take the recipe up a notch to give something that is more of a meal than a snack. Like when I trap a layer of cooked spinach between bread and cheese, or just mix the two together and give them a crust of toasted Parmesan. I could add that this is also a sound way of using bits of cheese that have accumulated in the fridge.
Recipe information
Yield
enough for 4
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Wash the spinach leaves in plenty of cold running water and remove any coarse stems. Put the leaves, the water still clinging to them, into a thick-bottomed pan with a lid. Let the spinach steam for a minute or two, then remove it as soon as it is limp but still jewel bright. Cool it quickly under running water, squeeze the moisture from it with your hands, and set aside.
Step 2
Toast the bread on both sides. If you are using muffins, split them by hand (to get a rough rather than knife-smooth surface) and toast them until pale gold.
Step 3
Mix the drained spinach with the crème fraîche and mustard. Slice the cheese thinly and add it to the spinach with a good grinding of salt and black pepper. Grate over a very little nutmeg. I use no more than a mere three or four rubs across the fine teeth of the grater.
Step 4
Pile the spinach onto the toasted bread, thickly to keep it juicy as it toasts, then dust it with grated Parmesan. Toast, on a baking sheet or grill pan, until the surface of the spinach and cheese starts to bubble, the Parmesan turning pale gold. Eat straightaway.
