The Art of Cheese with Castello Aged Havarti
Once upon a time I lived in England. I have many takeaways from that experience, and one of them is the ploughman, the ubiquitous pub lunch consisting of generous slabs of cheese served on a platter with bread, fruit, chutney, and pickles. In my opinion, the combination is a perfect meal: sharp aged cheese, a smear of spiced fruity chutney, perhaps a dab of strong mustard, and wedges of apple stacked onto thick slices of country style bread.
I couldn’t help but think of the ploughman when I was recently invited to contribute a recipe incorporating or accompanying Castello’s Aged Havarti Cheese. Castello is near and dear to my heart – a brand I know well from Denmark, so I was eager to step up to the task. I was also eager to try their aged rendition of havarti, which, trust me, is not your generic mild havarti. Nutty, piquant and dense, I easily pictured it with a dollop of robust chutney. As timing would have it, I like to make chutneys during the holiday season to accompany a cheese platter. So for this challenge, I took inspiration from Piccallili, the English version of Indian pickles, which is frequently served with ploughman’s lunches – and made an apple chile chutney, then ramped everything up a notch by piling all of the ingredients into a hearty grilled cheese sandwich with fresh onion, baby kale leaves and sliced apple.
Ploughman’s Grilled Cheese with Apple Chile Chutney
Makes one sandwich
2 slices sourdough or ciabatta bread, 1/2-inch thick
Salted butter, softened
2 ounces sliced aged hard cheese, such as sharp Cheddar or Gouda
1/4 cup arugula or more as needed
2 tablespoons Apple Chile Chutney (recipe below)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, or to taste
Make the sandwich:
Butter one side of each bread slice. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add one bread slice to the skillet, butter-side down. Lay the cheese over the bread. Cover the pan and cook until the cheese is mostly melted, 2 to 3 minutes. Place the arugula over the cheese. Spoon the chutney over the arugula. Spread the mustard over the unbuttered side of the second bread slice. Place the bread, mustard-side down, over the sandwich. Using a spatula, carefully flip the sandwich and gently press down. Cover the skillet and cook until the cheese is thoroughly melted and the bread is golden brown, 2 to 3 more minutes. Transfer to a plate, cut in half, and serve.
Apple Chile Chutney
Add a mix of mild and hot chile peppers for flavor and heat. I used a red jalapeño and sweet Hungarian and Gypsy peppers in this batch.
Makes about 2 cups.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion chopped
2 to 3 red chile peppers, depending on size and heat, stemmed and seeded, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons grated peeled ginger, with juices
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Combine all of the ingredients in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the chutney thickens, about 20 minutes. Cool completely, then transfer to a jar and refrigerate. The chutney will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Mouthwatering! The apple chile chutney must taste fantastic.
Cheers,
Rosa
Anything with chutney gets my vote.
Never had this type of sandwich in my life, so I am a little jealous, and wish I had one of these babies for dinner tonight… love your apple chile chutney, you really came up with a great combination of flavors for this post….
Great, fresh, flavorful apples are so underrated. You’ve made them the star they deserve in the wonderful chutney recipe. This recipe is a keeper Lynda!
Ooh, I love cheese, and that pickle looks pretty special too!!! YUM
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
P.S Pop over and say hi 🙂
DANG…I wish you could send me one of those sandwiches right now, it looks so good! I’ve never tried an aged havarti, I’ll have to keep my eyes open for one at my local cheese shop.
A ploughman’s lunch was never this good or so pretty.