Supper Club: Goat’s cheese and pickled beetroot melt

Goat’s Cheese & Pickled Beetroot Melt

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter, at room temperature
  
• 1 tsp thyme leaves
  
• 2 slices white sourdough bread
  
• 3 tbsp soft goat’s cheese
  
• 1 medium pickled beetroot, sliced
  
• small handful of rocket
  
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Try pickling the beetroot yourself for the best flavour, otherwise, simply use one from a jar. To make a quick pickle, cook the beetroot in a small saucepan of boiling water until tender, then drain, cool and slice. Mix 3 tbsp of rice vinegar with 1 tbsp of maple syrup or honey in a small bowl. Add the beetroot and drown it in the vinegar mix for 10 minutes. Boom? You have a pickle! Goat’s cheese loves beetroot and this melted sandwich is a good example.
2. In a small bowl, mix the butter with the thyme leaves. Spread the thyme butter on one side of both slices of bread and place the bread butter-side down.
3. Spread the goat’s cheese on one slice of the bread, top with the pickled beetroot and add the rocket. Season well with salt and pepper, then close the sandwich with the other slice of bread, butter side facinf up.
4. Heat a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat and cook the sandwich for 3 minutes on each side, gently pressing down on it with a spatula to help it crisp up. You can also cook the sandwich in a toasted sandwich maker or panini press if you prefer. Slice in half and serve.

Extracted from Melts by Fern Green (Hardie Grant). Photography by Jacqui Melville.