The big cheese

Griddle croque-monsieur

(the béchamel sauce is totally worth the effort)

To make the béchamel sauce, scald 3 cups milk in a saucepan along with ½ an onion, 4 fresh thyme sprigs, 1 bay leaf and 10 peppercorns for 3–5 minutes until it starts to simmer. Remove from the heat, strain and set aside.
In a clean saucepan, combine 30 g butter and 30 g flour, and cook for 2 minutes, then add the flavoured milk, a splash at a time, whisking continually. Once the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove from the heat and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. (This makes enough sauce for a loaf of bread’s worth of toasted sarmies.)
Place a griddle pan over a high heat, brush slices of bread with olive oil, then chargrill for 1 minute on each side.
Preheat the oven grill. Layer slices of Woolworths Royal Ashton cheese, Woolworths Gruberg cheese and slices of gypsy ham over half of the slices of bread. Place on a baking tray and grill. Once the cheese bubbles, remove. Spoon approximately 1 T béchamel sauce over each slice. Season and sprinkle over some fresh thyme, then grill again until golden brown and bubbling. Top each slice with the remaining toast and serve immediately.

Grilled banana bread with crottin, almond butter and maple syrup

(need we say more?)

Place a frying pan over a high heat. Toast a loaf of Woolworths ready-made banana bread (or make a loafyourself), sliced into 8 thick slices, on both sides until golden brown. Place the toasted banana bread onto a baking tray, spread with 4 T almond butter, top each slice with a piece of Woolworths goat’s milk crottin and grill for 5 minutes, or until melted. Remove from the oven and drizzle with 2 T maple syrup. (Cook’s note: Replace the almond butter with any nut butter.)

Gouda and cabbage on toast

(trust us on this one)

Fry 200 g roughly chopped pork rashers in a pan over a medium to high heat until golden. Add 2 cloves crushed garlic and 3 chopped baby Savoy cabbages and cook for 2 minutes until soft but still crunchy. Add 1 cup double-thick cream and 1 t mustard. Cook for a further 3 minutes. Place 150 g sliced Gouda onto slices of lightly toasted sourdough bread and top with the cabbage mixture. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Woolies knows a thing or two about cheese. In fact, they recently scooped 41 awards in the cheese and butter category at the SA Dairy Championships. Shop Woolies cheese and find out why they keeping coming out tops. (And while you’re at it, learn more about what makes an award-winning cheese.)

Learn more about Today With Woolies here.