Imitated, but never equalled, try your hand at our grilled cheese sandwich recipe. It's packed with cheese and oozes umami.

Made with 200g of cheese, this is more of a meal than a sandwich, which might help explain its cult following. We use Cheddar, for flavour, and Comté for its melting quality, but any hard cheese will work here. It's also important to use stale bread (a day or two old). The drier texture allows the sandwich to soak up the melted cheese more readily and holds together better as it cooks. Just leave a couple of slices out, uncovered, overnight if you're able to plan ahead.

Finally, we use a solid-plate contact grill in the shop, but if you don't have one at home, a dry frying pan makes a good alternative.

Preparation time 5 mins - Cooking time 10 mins - Serves 1 (generously)

Ingredients

160g Montgomery's Cheddar                            

40g Comté                       

50g white onion/leek/red onion           

2 thick slices of (at least) day-old sourdough bread

Method

1. Warm your grill (or pan) on a medium-hot setting.
2. Prepare your ingredients. Grate, and mix the cheeses together well and dice the onion very finely, using a mix of types if you prefer.
3. Once the grill has warmed and is ready to use, spread two-thirds of the grated cheese on one slice of bread. Cover with the other slice and place the sandwich onto the grill and close.
4. After 5 minutes, leaving the sandwich on the grill, carefully open it up and add your diced onion and the rest of the cheese evenly across the now melted cheese. Close it up again, and close the grill.
5. After a minute or two, turn the sandwich over. If you are cooking the sandwich in a frying pan we suggest turning the sandwich more often throughout the cooking time, ensuring it is cooked evenly on both sides.
6. After another few minutes the sandwich should be a dark golden brown and ready to eat.If you prefer it more well done, leave it for another minute or two, but be careful not to overcook it as all the cheese will simply run out of the sandwich onto the grill.
7. Once ready, place the sandwich on a board and slice in two. Move it to a plate, add a side of your favourite pickles or gherkins and leave to cool a little before eating.