Pimped Up Cheese & Onion Sarnie
It may be the nation’s favourite crisp flavour but is it the best sandwich filling? It is 100% up there as my top sandwich and I’ll tell you why…it has a whole load of fancy cheese varieties stuffed in. And a lil bit of truffle honey. And caramelised onion. And crispy onions. OMG GET IN MY MOUTH IMMEDIATELY.
I honestly got so extra with this recipe that I actually brought out the blowtorch. Who do I think I am?! You can’t call yourself a chef unless you take any opportunity to whip out the blowtorch.
Now I’m not saying this is one of those sandwiches you can just whip up out of nowhere as there are a fair few ingredients and it’s likely you won’t already have these in the fridge. If you do have sliced truffle, you’re doing something right bab haha. But, this is the sarnie you make when you wanna be extra, you wanna treat yourself and you want something absolutely DIVINE. Plus, it’ll fill you up. This is not a petite finger sandwich, this is a grab it both hands and hold on for dear life kinda sandwich. Have a napkin to hand.
For more pimped up sarnies, try out the below:
What sandwich filling shall I take on next?
Ingredients
- 1 loaf tiger bread
- 1 white onion, sliced
- 2 tsp golden caster sugar
- 2 shallots, finely sliced into rings
- 2 tbsp flour for shallot rings
- 50g butter
- 50g plain flour for roux
- 150ml milk
- 150g mixture of grated gruyere, gouda and truffled hard cheese
- 75g tallaegio
- Sliced marinated truffled (optional)
- Drizzle of truffle honey (optional)
Method
- Slice up your onions and get them into a pan with a knob of butter, salt and pepper and the golden caster sugar. Let them cook down and caramelise for 10-15 minutes.
- Season your flour and toss half of your shallot rings through the flour before scattering them into a deep fryer or pan of vegetable oil at 180ºc/350ºf until golden brown and crispy. When they’re done, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen roll.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chuck in the flour. Stir together and leave the flour to cook out for 1-2 minutes, then gradually add in the milk, whisking constantly. It will be a very thick roux, and then you can whisk in your grated cheeses until they melt. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool.
- Cut 2 doorstop slices of tiger bread and give them a light toast under the grill. First spread a layer of caramelised onions, then spread a generous layer of your cheesy sauce, don’t be shy bab! Scatter on the rest of your raw shallots and season well.
- If you’re being boujee and adding in some truffle, chuck on some slices of marinated truffle for a bit of a flavour bomb. Cut a thick slab from a block of tallaegio and sit it on top of the raw shallots. Using a blow torch if you have one (or under a very hot grill if not) melt and brown the top layer of the cheese. Top with your crispy crunchy shallots and the other slice of tiger bread and squash it all together while that cheese is still melted. You might want a bit of a lie down after this one bab.
- Tip - you can use whatever cheeses you like in this, comte works amazingly well because of its nuttiness, or even the leftover Christmas cheeseboard - whack it all in!