Chili Cheese Toast

Some of you may already know this popular Indian street food snack, but for those who don’t, it’s a MUST try! A buttery bread topped with a spicy cheese mixture – who doesn’t love that?!

I made this for my Hubby and Dad one evening and literally, it was just from stuff that I had in my kitchen. Conveniently, I had a loaf of Italian bread laying around, as our plans had just gotten cancelled. Funny enough, it was tasty but overly spicy, so I have reduced the spice in my recipe below. 

This is a quick and easy appetizer. Get creative with it – try it on a rye loaf or maybe add some peppers to the cheese mixture. Green peppers would add a nice crunch, but I’m not a huge fan of them, so I avoid it as much as possible. 

Something you should keep in mind is the size of the bread loaf. A lot of bakeries/grocery stores carry a variety of sizes, and that means you could end up using more or less cheese. But not to worry! You can save the extra cheese mixture in your fridge for a quick chili cheese toast on a slice of bread. 

This would be a great appetizer for a small gathering, just be sure to adjust the ingredients quantity according to the number of guests. They will not be disappointed!

Servings: 4-5

Ingredients:
• 1 Italian/French Bread Loaf, sliced in half lengthwise
• 1 450g pizza mozzarella cheese (or regular mozzarella), shredded on the fine grater side
• 3 green chilies, finely chopped
• 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
• About ½ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp dried chili flakes
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• About ¼ cup butter
• ½ tsp salt
• Fresh ground black pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F

2. Butter that bread as if you’ve never buttered it before 🙂 The above butter measurement is really just a rough estimate so feel free to use more/less.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients except the bread. Mix well and taste. Yeah, it’s gonna have a kick to it but remember the bread is yet to come!

4. Evenly spread the cheese mixture to the halved bread loaves. 

5. Bake for 20 mins or until the cheese is golden brown. I like to broil it for 1 minute to get that extra golden colour!

6. Slice into squares, rectangles or stars – the world is your oyster. Serve hot!