A Beetroot and Cheese Sandwich - The Food Snob Version

Any day is a good day for a sandwich, right?! Especially if it involves cheese! As Jamie Oliver said once "Because cheese changes the world!" And yes... it sure does! As far as I am concerned, any cheese, all cheese all the time, lol! So, I was recently made aware of a sandwich combo that despite loving all the individual ingredients - they were never something I would have considered putting together on a sandwich... although, I have since discovered (thanks Google) that this is a lot more common than I would have expected.

Nonetheless, the combination pricked my curiosity, so I decided to give it a whirl and figured I may as well share it with all of you. In the interest of presentation, I did this as an open sandwich (like a true food snob, lol!) and it was still absolutely delicious, even when eaten with a knife and fork, but if I were to do it again, I would do it closed so that I could just get stuck in!

I decided that a sandwich like this would be best made on some fresh from the market white "plaas brood" (Farm Bread), so I picked up a loaf when we went to the market on Saturday. I cut a nice doorstop size slice because... why not! Plaas brood has got to be one of the most deliciously comforting breads on planet earth - especially when still hot off the press.

I contemplated adding rocket to the plate but something in me said mmmm naaaah - which is practically unheard of for me because cheese and rocket are literally born to go hand in hand! So anyhow, I opted for some diced up butter lettuce instead, which is pretty close to a traditional iceberg lettuce basically just for a little extra juicy crunch in the mouth.

Next up was the foundation of any good sandwich... yes, butter! No sandwich is complete without it, not in my opinion anyway - and no, not margarine, because that is essentially plastic... only real farm butter thanks! The original version of this sadnwich brought in some mayonnaise and I was going to go that route but I decided to add more cheese instead... a justifiable trade off I reckon. I opted for some paprika and black pepper chevin which is essentially a smooth goats cheese and is nothing short of heavenly.

After that came the beetroot - the star of the show really... although you would never say so given all the darn cheese I added, lol! Really speaking, it was the combination of cheese with the beetroot which really appealed to me in concept, because I knew they would marry well. so naturally I went over board and added ALL the cheeses!!! haha! I put a generous amount of beetroot rounds onto the slice, but I drained them a little after removing them from the brine, because I didn't want the bread to get too soggy. I actually would have preferred to cook up a fresh batch of beetroots but, well - I was too lazy to... so bottled beetroot it was! It did the job - and it did it well!

Then it was time for some cheese, cheese and more cheese... I chose a traditional yellow gouda because I love the smooth, creamy deliciousness which I grated using the standard side of the grater. Then, I added to that, some finely grated mild white cheddar for that little bit of cheesy punch and then last but not least, I sprinkled it all with some plain crumbled feta cheese - because feta!

So, that was pretty much that! I cracked a little black pepper around the plate and then got tucked in. It was absolutely bloody delicious!!! No, I did not make it quite the way it was originally introduced to me, but it was pretty close - just a whole lot more cheese, which for me - is never a problem, lol!

Now that I have made it and eaten it, it seems such an obvious combination really... I feel a little stupid to not have ever thought of it myself - but, we learn something new everyday and I am thrilled to have been educated with this one! I reckon it would also be pretty tasty toasted.

It is such a fun combo - one that apparently I have been missing out on for my entire life. This sandwich, made closed and possibly even some with mayonnaise will definitely be getting packed into the picnic basket in future - be it in a much simpler (less food snobby) way, haha!