Welsh Rarebit is the ultimate comfort food, whether it’s for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Hot, cheesy sauce on toasted bread? Yes, please!
The traditional Welsh Rarebit
Despite the name, Welsh Rarebit did not originate in Wales. It instead originated in the 1800s in Britain. The original name was “Welsh Rabbit”. However, they soon reinterpreted the name as the dish does not contain any rabbit.
The traditional Welsh Rarebit sauce is made of cheese, ale and mustard. Once spread and melted on the bread, the cheesy sauce is garnished with cayenne pepper or paprika.
With today’s recipe, we’ll be using all of the traditional ingredients with a (french) twist. We’ll be combining the traditional Welsh Rarebit ingredients into a bechamel sauce. This will give the sauce the perfect texture and consistency for spreading and holding shape on the bread slices. And adding a few extra ingredients, such as Worcestershire sauce, will give it an extra pop of flavour.
Keep stirring
A very important tip to remember with this sauce is to keep stirring. This tip is crucial for a normal bechamel sauce, and now that you’ll be adding components like beer, it’s even more crucial. If you keep the sauce mixture moving, the less likely lumps will form.
Ingredients
- 375 g cheese grated
- 30 g butter
- 10 ml plain cake flour
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ cup beer
- 5 ml Worcestershire sauce
- 5 ml mustard
- 2 & ½ ml salt
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper to taste
- 1 large egg
- 8 thick slices of bread of your choice
- 1 pinch sweet paprika to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter on medium heat in a small saucepan, stir in flour and cook gently for 1 minute.
- Add slowly the milk and beer as to not create lumps. stir until sauce thickens.
- Add cheese, Worcestershire, mustard, salt, and cayenne to taste.
- Stir constantly until cheese melts.
- Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in beaten egg.
- Spread one side of bread slices with cheese mixture and grill until golden.
- *Serve hot sprinkled with a pinch of sweet paprika.
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