A Caerphilly and leek toastie for St David's Day

Anyone who's lived around or visited Bristol in the last few years will know of the legendary Trethowan's Dairy toasties they used to sell* at St Nick's market. Here's the secret . . .

• 15g butter

• 1 finely chopped small leek

• 1 clove of garlic

• 1 finely chopped spring onion

• a scatter of finely chopped red onion

• 50g grated Gorwydd or other artisanal Caerphilly (use the rind too)

• 2 thin slices of sourdough (best when a couple of days old. The Trethowans used to use Tom Herbert's Shepherd's Loaf)

• a pinch or two of salt and a good grind of pepper

There are two ways of making this depending whether you've got a contact grill or not. Jess of Trethowan's Dairy suggests pre-cooking the leeks and onions:

Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat, add the leeks and onions and soften. Take off the heat, mix in the cheese and season to taste. Grill the bread, rub over the the garlic then spread the cheese and leek mixture over each piece of toast. sandwich together.

An alternative way which keeps the veg slightly crunchier is to butter the outside of the two slices then fill them with the leek, onion and cheese mixture. Place the sandwich in a sandwich toaster, panini grill or other contact grill and cook until the cheese has melted.

I have also made them in a frying pan, browning the buttered sides of the sandwich then transferring the pan to the Aga to let the onion soften and the cheese go gooey.

* sadly they don't any more. But now you can make your own!

What to drink with a Caerphilly and leek toastie: A cider would be perfect!

For other leek pairings see here.

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