Cheesy and buttery with a hint of rich brown ale, this upgrade on a Welsh rarebit makes for a great lunch. Serve it straight from the oven – it’s also good served cold
When Nadine isn't busy developing delicious recipes and using her experience as a health food editor to create healthy treats, she's munching and reviewing her way around her beloved home town of Tottenham. Find out what she's cooking and eating on Instagram @n0sh.17
See more of Nadine Brown’s recipes
Nadine Brown
When Nadine isn't busy developing delicious recipes and using her experience as a health food editor to create healthy treats, she's munching and reviewing her way around her beloved home town of Tottenham. Find out what she's cooking and eating on Instagram @n0sh.17
See more of Nadine Brown’s recipes
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Ingredients
For the pastry
125g unsalted butter
200g plain flour, plus extra to dust
1 tbsp English mustard powder
1⁄2 tsp fine sea salt
1 medium egg, separated (reserve the egg white to glaze)
For the filling
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large leek (about 260g), trimmed, halved lengthways, rinsed and sliced
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, plus sprigs to garnish
15g butter
1 tbsp plain flour
1⁄2 tsp made English mustard
a splash of Worcestershire sauce* or Henderson’s Relish
85ml brown ale*
90g extra mature cheddar* (we used Welsh)
1 large baking potato (about 350g), peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium egg white
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Step by step
Before you start, place 125g butter in your freezer until really firm, then chop into very small dice. Put 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl and add this to the freezer to get it extra-cold, without freezing it.
Put 200g flour, the mustard powder and salt in a food processor with a good few grinds of black pepper and pulse briefly. Add the chilled chopped butter and briefly pulse again until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and, while pulsing, drizzle in 2-3 tablespoons of the ice-cold water until the ‘crumbs’ look damp but don’t come together into a ball – you might not need to use all the water. Tip the dough onto a work surface and use your hands to shape it into a ball. Flatten into a disc, wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat then add the leek with a large pinch of salt. Sauté for 5 minutes until softened then add the thyme and cook for a further minute. Season and leave to cool.
Make the rarebit sauce. Melt 15g butter in a saucepan over a low heat then stir in the tablespoon of flour. Cook for a few minutes until the mixture starts to brown then stir in the mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Gradually whisk in the ale then add 75g of cheese, whisking until smooth. Remove from the heat and season with black pepper.
Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Line a large flat baking sheet and lightly flour your worktop. Roll the pastry out to a rough circle, about 35cm in diameter and 3mm thick. Carefully transfer to the lined baking sheet. Add half the leeks to the pastry in an even layer, leaving a 5cm border, then cover with half the potato slices and some seasoning. Spoon on the rarebit sauce (you might need to reheat it slightly first) then repeat with the remaining leek and potato. Brush the potato with the remaining oil and sprinkle over the last of the cheese.
Carefully fold the pastry edge up and over the filling, overlapping and pinching the pastry where necessary. Beat the egg white with 1 teaspoon of water and use to brush the pastry edge. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Garnish with an extra grind of black pepper and some thyme sprigs.
*If vegetarian, use vegetarian cheese, brown ale, and Henderson’s Relish
Put the cheese, mustard, Worcester sauce and Tabasco sauce in and stir until melted. Beat in the egg yolks and flour and gently cook for a further 2 minutes. Evenly spoon over the bread and bacon then spoon the cheese mix all over and bake for 5 minutes until golden and bubbly.
Two jars of delicious Welsh Rarebit mix ready to spread on your toast and put under your grill. Absolutely lovely! Keep in your fridge and use within 2 weeks of receipt from us.
The type of beer used in Welsh rarebit can be a contentious subject; some prefer the bold flavor of a porter, while some like the more subtle bitterness of a brown ale. Whichever you use, make sure that it is a beer you love to drink, and serve a pint alongside your rarebit and tomatoes.
The original 18th-century name of the dish was the jocular "Welsh rabbit", which was later reinterpreted as "rarebit", as the dish contains no rabbit. Variants include English rabbit, Scotch rabbit, buck rabbit, golden buck, and blushing bunny.
Bring a little Fortnum's history home with this incredibly decadent Welsh Rarebit potted jar. An indulgent savoury treat, this potted-version is made to the exact recipe that's been used at Fortnum's for decades – cheddar cheese mixed with mustard, Worcestershire sauce, a whole egg and a drop of Fortnum's Ale.
Due to the fresh egg content, our Welsh Rarebit has a naturally shorter shelf life. We recommend you eat this quickly, as we can only guarantee a minimum shelf life of three days upon receipt of your order.
Cawl, pronounced "cowl", can be regarded as Wales' national dish. Dating back to the 11th century, originally it was a simple broth of meat (most likely lamb) and vegetables, it could be cooked slowly over the course of the day whilst the family was out working the fields.
If you don't want to use beer, just substitute milk. Or cream if you're going for a particularly rich dish. We've also seen recipes that substitute tomato juice for beer. In which case the dish often is called a Blushing Bunny.
An indulgent twist on the more traditional Welsh Rarebit. This savoury treat is expertly made by combining our West Country Farmhouse Cheddar with Worcestershire sauce, mustard, a whole egg and a drop of Fortnum's Ale with dry-cured bacon. A favourite in our restaurants.
Is welsh rarebit just cheese on toast? No! Cheese on toast is made by grilling slices of pure cheese on toasted bread whereas welsh rarebit is a grilled cheese based sauce made from cheese, flour, beer and often added egg.
Nestlé, the world's biggest food brand, acquires STOUFFER'S. STOUFFER'S enters the 90's with its name on 68 restaurants and 40 major resorts and hotels, before selling them in 1992 to focus on frozen food.
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Prep time: 45 mins
