A slice of toasted bread isn’t just to be eaten in the morning with a spread of jam and butter or topped with some eggs and bacon. The humble slice is for any time of day and meal time. At the weekends I like to buy a nice fresh loaf of bread and Germany is definitely the right place to have plenty of choice. Bread is often something that German’s miss when they are away from home and they really do take it seriously. When I first arrived in Berlin I found it difficult to get my hands on a typical loaf of thinly sliced bread. Like the kind of bread us Brits enjoy so much. The type of thinly sliced bread that brings back memories of school packed lunches and in my opinion is still the best bread to use to make a proper bacon sandwich! But I love the choice in fresh bread available. I usually go for a whole meal pumpkin and poppy seed loaf and serve chunks of this with a fresh salad for a saturday lunch. On a sunday I typically toast a slice and top it with some scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. But I always end up with quite a bit of it leftover and one of my favourite ways is to toast up a few slices and top with various ingredients for lunch or a light dinner.
Grilled Courgettes, Goats Cheese and Red Chilli on Toast is the perfect weekend lunch. It makes perfect use of that fresh loaf of bread and is a great way to use up any leftovers. I cook both the slices of bread and courgettes on a griddle pan to get a bit of that smokey, grilled flavour. The goats cheese has a nice light melt to it from the warm bread and courgettes and I top with some slices of red chilli to give it that little kick.
I usually serve a slice per person for a light lunch with a salad on the side. But you can easily double this up to make it a more satisfying and filling dinner.
- 2 thick slices of fresh bread (I use a pumpkin seed wholemeal loaf)
- 4 - 6 slices of courgette
- 1 red chilli (finely sliced)
- 70g goats cheese
- Olive oil
- Pepper
- Heat a griddle pan. Once hot add the slices of bread and griddle on each side for just 1-2 mins. Put to one side.
- In the same pan add the courgettes and griddles on each side for just 1-2 mins.
- Plate up the pieces of bread and top with the goats cheese. Then layer the courgettes on top and add the chillies on top. Lightly drizze a dash of olive oil over each piece and season with a bit of black pepper.
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