The Best Toastie...EVER

A couple of weeks ago I attended a cooking event in London hosted by Warburtons. It was all about the sandwich and ways to be creative and make them more exciting, whether it be open or closed, brown or white, toasted or not.

There was a huge amount of ingredients to choose from, fresh meats and cheeses, fruits and vegetables and all the condiments you could dream of (well almost), along with Warburtons square(ish) wraps and sandwich thins

Our challenges were to create sandwiches, using the ingredients available, along the themes of 'flavour pairings', 'British with a twist' and 'International sandwiches'. There were some really interesting combinations and flavours created, including chocolate & bacon (oddly nice), mango salsa and roast beef, fish & chips to name a few.

My sandwiches were :

• Hot peppers, beef and chocolate
• Cheese & Pickle with a twist - Mozzarella and Lime Pickle
• Brie, Walnut, Honey & Rocket
• PB & J stack - with a twist as there was no jam so I used cranberry sauce instead, which is a good alternative at Christmas!
• My all time favourite toastie - Banana, Cheese, Chilli & Mango Chutney. This may sound very odd but it is amazing and one that I eat quite often. It was met with scepticism at first but one bite changed their minds and amazingly it was awarded first prize!

I even managed to convince the taxi driver that it was the best toastie ever and he said he couldn't wait to get home and make one.

The following day, armed with some Warburtons square wraps I made one for my lunch. If you do fancy being brave and trying it for yourself you will need the following :

2 slices of bread or square wrap

1 banana, sliced

cheddar cheese, sliced

a few slices of fresh chilli (or dried chilli flakes)

Mango chutney

• Lay the ingredients onto one slice of bread or on 1/3 of the wrap
• Lay another slice of bread on top, or fold the wrap over to enclose the ingredients
• Place in a sandwich toaster, panini press or in a frying pan and cook until the cheese has melted
• Enjoy!

I received expenses to allow me to attend the event, as well as some samples