Inspired by Heidi’s comment about grilled cheese sandwiches  on the cheese and pickle post, I rifled through Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Vegetable book and found a lovely  simple recipe for cheese and leeks on toast which I have customized slightly to use up half a red pepper as well as my leeks. It is the sort of book that if you are an experienced cook and a vegetarian you probably know most of the methods and techniques in it already,  but I like it for its simple layout and clear straightforward recipes. I think, going by this article I just found, HFW is very fond of cheese on toast. Lots more of his ideas here of things to put on toast : – Posh cheese on toast recipes.

As I was making vegetable soup anyway and sweating leeks, I borrowed a couple of spoonfuls of the leeks from the early stages of the soup to make this treat. I am going to make it again today as we have lots of leeks in our vegetable box this week.

Pepper and Leek Cheese on Toast for Two

• 1 medium leek
• Half a red pepper (capiscum)
• 50g of favourite cheese
• 3 spoonfuls of half fat creme fraiche
• salt and pepper
• Thyme or favourite herbs
• Two chunky slices of favourite bread – here I used my kefir date bread with sesame seed crust

1. Sweat the sliced leeks and pepper in a little butter or stock on a low heat
2. Grate cheese and put to one side
3. Once leeks and peppers are soft and glistening lower the heat
4. Slice some bread and toast lightly and put the grill on
5. Add the creme fraiche and mix in
6. Add about three quarters of the grated cheese and stir well
7. Season to taste, add thyme
8. Pile onto warmed bread and divide the remaining cheese between the two slices
9. Pop under hot grill and cook till bubbly and browning
10. Eat!