Kasarli Tost (Turkish Grilled Cheese Toast)
The beloved Turkish cafe classic: crisp buttery bread hugging a river of melted kasar cheese, with optional sucuk for a smoky kick. Breakfast sorted in fifteen minutes.
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Ingredients
4 thick slices of white bloomer, or 2 Turkish pide breads split open
150g kasar (kashkaval) cheese, sliced or coarsely grated
8 thin slices of sucuk (optional but recommended)
25g salted butter, softened, for the outside of the bread
1 tsp pul biber (Turkish pepper flakes)
1 small tomato, thinly sliced (optional)
A handful of black olives, to serve
Pickled cucumbers or peppers, to serve
Turkish black tea, freshly brewed, to serve
Instructions
- 1
Heat your sandwich press or a heavy frying pan over medium heat while you prepare the toasties.
- 2
Butter one side of each slice of bread; these buttered sides will face outwards so they crisp and turn golden.
- 3
Layer half the kasar cheese on the unbuttered side of two slices, add the sucuk slices and tomato if using, sprinkle with pul biber, then top with the remaining cheese so everything is glued together when it melts.
- 4
Close the sandwiches with the remaining bread, buttered side out, and press gently with your palm.
- 5
Cook in the press for 4-5 minutes until deep golden and the cheese is visibly melting at the edges; in a frying pan, cook 3 minutes per side, pressing down with a spatula or a plate weighted with a tin.
- 6
Rest for one minute (the cheese is lava-hot), slice diagonally and serve with olives, pickles and plenty of Turkish tea.
Ask anyone who grew up in Turkey about their school-canteen memories and kasarli tost will come up within seconds. It is the toastie you buy at a seaside buffet, the snack pressed for you at a roadside cafe, the thing you crave with a glass of black tea on a cold London morning. The magic is in the cheese: kasar (kashkaval) melts into long, glossy strings that ordinary cheddar simply cannot match.
The traditional version uses a tost makinesi, the Turkish press that flattens and crisps the bread, but a panini press, sandwich toaster or even a heavy frying pan with a plate on top works perfectly in a UK kitchen. Butter the outside generously, keep the heat medium so the cheese melts before the bread burns, and do not rush it.
Purists stop at cheese, but the sucuklu-kasarli combination, with thin slices of garlicky Turkish sucuk tucked between the cheese, is arguably even better. You can find proper toast-cut kashkaval, sliced sucuk and pide-style bread at Turkish Online Market, delivered anywhere in the UK.
Serve it cut on the diagonal with black olives, sliced tomato, pickled peppers and, non-negotiably, a tulip glass of freshly brewed Turkish tea.
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