Ham and cheese toastie with a cup of gravy
Golden and soft, with a mug of gravy for dipping
Scales up sandwich by sandwich, one or two at a time depending on the size of the pan. Make the gravy in one go for however many you are feeding.
A toastie is not usually a recipe that needs writing down, but this one earns its place for what sits alongside it. Trimmed ham and Cheddar, pressed between buttered white bread and cooked low and slow rather than hard and fast, so the outside turns golden and soft instead of hard enough to hurt a sore mouth. The gravy is the part that makes it feel like a proper meal rather than a snack grabbed standing up: warm, smooth, poured into a small mug for dipping, the way you might dunk a biscuit into tea. Ten minutes, barely any washing up, and something that tastes like being looked after.
Ingredients
Contains: Gluten, Milk
- 2 slicewhite bread, crusts on, or removed if your mouth is sore
- 15 gunsalted butter, softened, for spreading outside
- 2 sliceham, trimmed of all fat and gristle
- 40 gCheddar, grated
- 250 mlsmooth gravy, from granules or a good ready-made gravy
Method
Butter one side of each bread slice, right to the edges.
Lay the ham on the unbuttered side of one slice and scatter the Cheddar over the top. Close the sandwich with the second slice, buttered side facing out.
Heat a small frying pan over a medium-low heat. Put the sandwich in and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, pressing down gently with a spatula, until the outside is golden and the cheese has melted through. Keep the heat low enough that the bread turns golden and soft rather than crisp or hard.
Meanwhile, warm the gravy in a small pan or the microwave, stirring until smooth and hot, then pour into a small mug or jug.
Cut the toastie in half if you like, and serve with the mug of gravy alongside for dipping.
Watch-points
- Trim every scrap of fat and gristle from the ham before it goes in.
- Keep the gravy smooth, whether from granules or a good ready-made gravy, with nothing lumpy in it.
- Take the crusts off the bread first if your mouth is sore. They are otherwise fine to leave on.
Stoma note: The white bread and smooth gravy here both lean towards thickening, useful if output is running loose rather than sluggish.
Make it more nourishing
- Use 60 g of Cheddar instead of 40 g.
- Add an extra 10 g of butter to the pan for a richer, more golden crust.
- Stir a tablespoon of double cream into the gravy for extra calories without extra volume.
Swaps
- Instead of ham, use sliced cooked turkey
- leaner, and keeps the same soft bite
- Instead of Cheddar, use Gruyère
- melts a little more smoothly