Jack Monroe’s savoury anchovy toasts recipe

This may seem like the sort of simple thing you don’t need a recipe for, more an idea than a prescriptive set of instructions. I stumbled across it in my copy of Mrs Beeton’s Everyday Cookery, and as a bit of an anchovy fiend, I was immediately sold. The original calls for “very thick white sauce and essence of anchovy”. I jotted it down in my notebook as one to explore. A few weeks later, I was having a light lunch at the Brackenbury in Shepherds Bush, run by Ossie, son of the late, great Rose Gray, and an anchovy toast savoury appeared from the kitchen. The notebook came back out (to the chagrin of anyone who accompanies me these days, I rarely have a meal without a pen in my hand). Under Mrs Beeton went Ossie Gray. Simple it may be, but if it’s good enough for Isabella and Ossie, it’s definitely good enough for me.

(serves 2, or 1 if you’re hungry)

6 anchovies, fresh or in brine, the choice is yours

4 slices good white bread

1 tsp butter

1 tsp flour

120ml milk

A lump of hard strong cheese

A pinch of cayenne pepper

Parsley, to garnish

First make the cheese sauce. Gently melt the butter in a small saucepan on a very low heat, and whisk in the flour with a fork to form a smooth paste.

Add a splash of milk and mix well, and keep adding gradually, mixing all the time to stop lumps and clumps from forming. If you get lumps, pop a sieve over a bowl and pour the mixture through to separate the lumps from the liquid. Tip the lumps back into the pan with a smattering of flour to re-combine, add a little more butter, and start adding the liquid back in gradually. Things rarely go so wrong that they aren’t redeemable.

Grate in the cheese, add the cayenne, give it all a stir and remove from the heat to settle and thicken.

Meanwhile, toast your bread until golden. Smear the cheese sauce on both pieces, add a smattering of chopped parsley, pop your anchovies in, and voila. The sloppy sauce is part of the appeal for me, but you can firm the whole experience up with extra cheese, if you like.