Tricolore Gouda Toastie Recipe
Why this works
A toastie asks very little of you. Bread, butter, cheese, a pan. You do not need a sandwich press, and you do not need a reason.
Most of the craft sits in two small things. Cut the cheese thin, so it has time to soften before the outside goes too dark. And keep the heat moderate, so the bread browns slowly instead of catching while the middle is still cold.
Tricolore Gouda is made in the Netherlands. We bring it in as whole wheels and cut and pack it here in Auckland.
The rest is a weeknight sandwich. Four of them, ten minutes of prep, one pan, done in a couple of batches.
Ingredients
Serves 4. Prep 10 minutes. Cook 15 minutes.
180 g Tricolor Gouda, one retail pack
8 slices of sandwich bread
60 g butter, softened
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, optional
1 small handful of chives or spring onion, finely sliced, optional
ground black pepper
Slice it thin, about the thickness of a coin. Thin slices soften while the crust is still on the right side of golden, which is the whole trick. A Y-peeler works if you would rather shave it than slice it. Contains milk.
Softened butter matters more than it sounds. Cold butter tears the bread and lands in clumps, and the clumps burn before the rest of the surface has coloured.
Method
Take the butter out of the fridge 20 minutes ahead so it spreads easily.
Slice the cheese thin and divide it into four piles.
Butter one side of all 8 slices of bread, right out to the edges. That buttered face goes against the pan.
Turn 4 slices over and spread a thin layer of mustard on the dry side.
Lay a pile of slices on each one, leaving a small gap at the edges so it does not run out.
Scatter over the chives and a grind of pepper.
Close each sandwich with a second slice, buttered side facing out.
Heat a heavy frying pan over a medium-low flame. Give it a minute or two to come up to temperature.
Put two toasties in and press them down gently with a fish slice.
Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then lift a corner and look. You want an even golden brown, not dark patches.
Turn them over, press again, and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.
If the outside is colouring faster than the middle is softening, drop the heat and put a lid on for a minute. The trapped steam sorts it out.
Lift them onto a board and let them sit for a minute. Cutting straight away sends the filling out the sides.
Cut each one across the diagonal and serve while hot.
Cook the second pair the same way, wiping the pan out first if anything has caught.
Notes and substitutions
Any bread that holds its shape will do. Sourdough, a thick-cut white, a light rye. Denser loaves want to be sliced a bit thinner and cooked a bit slower.
Butter on the outside gives you an even crust. Some people use mayonnaise instead, which browns faster, so watch it more closely.
The mustard is there to cut the richness. A thin smear of chutney or a few sliced gherkins does the same job. A slice of ham, or apple sliced very thin, turns it into more of a meal.
A sandwich press works fine. Same build, low setting, no turning.
Wrap whatever is left over so the cut face does not dry out, and put it back in the fridge. There is more on that in How to Store Cheese: NZ Care Guide.