Manchego & spring onion toastie with romesco
Jarred or tinned roasted red peppers are pure joy in the depths of winter… They are a ray of sunshine from the back of the store-cupboard which put a smile on one's face and a little summer spirit on the plate; added to which, their long-life nature doesn't compromise a seasonal diet. WIN. They are sweet and smokey, and take us back to summer barbecues where piles of charred veggies were dolloped with romesco and devoured in the best company.
Having said that, we enjoyed these toasties on a cold January evening with a rich bottle of sumoll - a powerful, rustic Spanish red; the combination warmed our hearts no end, not to mention our tummies! A sweet, slightly tangy, subtly smoky romesco sauce was the link between the toastie and the wine, and what a link it was. The recipe for the romesco is more than you will need for two people, yet it will keep for up to 1 week in the fridge in a sealed container. It can be dolloped on many dishes - our roasted butternut & butterbean stew, for example. It can happily be frozen too.
This toastie has a ‘rarebit’ style recipe and method - that is to say, the cheese mix is bound with some raw egg and popped under the grill. However, here, we’ve used the egg white rather than the egg yolk. Rich and golden yolks are a great match for nutty cheese and strong cheddar (we’ve used yolk in our spiced crab thermidor mix, for example); but we feel the white pairs better with the sharp and clean taste of Manchego, a firm white cheese. The Manchego’s flavour takes centre stage, and green flavours of fresh, lightly pungent spring onions shine through too.
Less meat, better meat.
If you fancy topping with a few slices of chorizo we highly recommend this Suffolk Salami Co chorizo from Lane Farm which is part of the RSPCA assured pig scheme; the pigs are happily reared outdoors with plenty of free rein, and the resulting cured meat is dry, flavoursome and very tender rather than being greasy or chewy.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5-10 minutes
This recipe serves 2 people.
Ingredients :
For the romesco:
1 heaped tsp paprika
1 heaped tsp smoked paprika
½ cup walnuts / 1 small handful
1 small clove garlic
1 small jar/tin roasted red peppers (200 g drained weight)
1 ½ tsp flakey sea salt
4 tbsp sherry vinegar / red wine vinegar
6 tbsp olive oil
For the toastie:
2 slices sourdough, lightly toasted
2 tbsp olive oil
2 heaped tbsp grated cheddar
8 heaped tbsp grated Manchego
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 egg white, lightly whisked
6 slices of chorizo, optional
To serve:
mixed leaves
Method:
Start by preheating your grill and have an oven rack near the top.
Next make the romesco sauce. Dry toast the paprika and smoked paprika very lightly in a dry pan over a gentle heat, just for 1-2 minutes. Shimmy the pan constantly and kill the heat as soon as you can smell their aroma being released. Tip the paprika/s onto a plate immediately to prevent they over-toasting and becoming bitter. Simply transfer all the romesco ingredients into a blender or nutribullet and whizz until smooth. If you like a little texture feel free to leave it on the chunky side! Note: if you have the time to lightly toast the walnuts this adds another layer of complexity to the sauce, but in this instance we don’t find this step essential.
Lightly toasting 2 large slices of sourdough in your toaster, and very lightly brush each side with some olive oil.
Grate the Manchego and the cheddar, and finely slice the spring onions.
Lightly whisk the egg white in a large mixing bowl until frothy (make sure the bowl is clean and dry, or the egg whites won’t froth up!), they add the grated cheese and the spring onions. Fold everything together lightly to avoid ‘knocking out’ too much air.
Spoon and spread this mix onto your toast, add a few slices of chorizo if using, and then pop these under the grill for 5-10 minutes until lightly puffed up and golden. They should start to smell intoxicating very quickly..!
Serve your hot toasties with a generous pile of leaves - we love bitter winter leaves dressed with our flavour hack dijon vinaigrette - and a dollop after dollop of romesco. You’ll escape the winter-y depths of lockdown with every bite!
We enjoyed a sumoll with this dinner, but a Rioja would be fantastic here, and you can read more about this over on the wine blog, Grape Minds.
