Serves 4

Ingredients

85g butter

30g plain flour

75ml milk 1

small shallot

250g nettles, or watercress or baby spinach

350g of Cornish Yarg, crumbled

100ml Tribute bitter

1 tsp English mustard

1tsp Worcester sauce

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

Pinch nutmeg

4 thick slices of crusty white bread

Method

1 Melt 75g butter in a small saucepan, add flour and stir to make a roux. Add the milk and whisk over a low heat to thicken, then allow to cool.

2 Finely chop the shallot and soften in a saucepan with the rest of the butter for 5 minutes, until translucent. Blanche the nettles in a pan of salted boiling water, add to shallot mixture, stir and season.

3 Add most of the Yarg to the white sauce and stir in the bitter, mustard, Worcester sauce, egg and yolk, add salt, pepper and a touch of nutmeg to taste.

4 Toast crusty white bread, spread with the shallots and nettle mixture. Top with the rarebit mix, sprinkle the rest of the Yarg and grill for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown. Serve with an apple, chicory and toasted walnut salad.

Times Recommends

• Jane MacQuitty’s party wine
• Oliver Peyton's Christmas pavlova
• Blood orange cosmopolitan