Rarebit toasties with sticky Marmite onions
Add some crispy bacon to the mix and you’ve got the ultimate morning-after-the-night-before bacon sarnie. Forego the eggs and serve with a bowl of tomato soup and you’ve got a hearty lunch or dinner for a chilly day. Whenever or however you decide to eat this, it’s so worth it.
SERVES 2 PREP 15 mins COOK 35 mins plus cooling EASY V
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp butter
250ml milk
50ml ale or stout
80g extra mature cheddar
11/2 tsp English mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, plus extra to serve pinch cayenne pepper
1 tbsp vegetable or rapeseed oil, plus extra for the eggs if using 2 onions, halved and thinly sliced 1 tbsp light brown soft sugar 1 tbsp Marmite
4 chunky slices sourdough bread 2 eggs (optional)
1 Put the flour, butter, milk, beer, cheese and mustard into a pan, set over a medium heat and stir with a whisk until thickened and smooth. Add the Worcestershire sauce and cayenne. Cover the surface with a piece of baking parchment or cling film to prevent a skin forming and set aside to cool. You can make the rarebit sauce up to three days before using (store in the fridge).
2 Heat the oil in a frying pan. Cook the onions in the pan for 15-20 mins until caramelised. Add the sugar and Marmite to the onions and cook for another 2-3 mins until sticky, adding a splash of water if it looks dry.
3 Toast the slices of bread lightly and heat the grill. If you’re serving with an egg, heat a frying pan with a drizzle of oil. Spread 2 slices of toast with the onions and top with half the rarebit mixture. Cover the remaining 2 slices of bread with the rest of the rarebit mixture. Place under the grill until bubbling (about 2-3 mins), then sandwich the slices together with the cheesy onions in the middle. While they’re cooking, fry the eggs to your liking. Top the sandwiches with a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce, a grinding of pepper and the eggs.
GOOD TO KNOW calcium • folate • fibre • iron •
1 of 5-a-day PER SERVING 1,028 kcals • fat 40g • saturates 21g • carbs 123g • sugars 28g • fibre 7g • protein 39g • salt 4.4g
Comfort know-how
Welsh rarebit is a popular version of cheese on toast, but rarebits come in many forms. Turn the Welsh version into a buck rarebit by topping it with a poached or fried egg (as we have here). English rarebit uses red wine or port in place of the beer, while Irish rarebit contains onions, gherkins and herbs.