Maybe you just moved out of home or don’t have a lot of space, maybe your jaffle iron or sandwich press broke, or your ex took it. You can still have a cheap easy hot meal with minimal washing up.

Some fillings like baked bean or spaghetti jaffles do need a special jaffle iron to seal the crusts and keep it inside but plenty can be done in just a frying pan + a multipurpose lid or even a plate to cover.

  1. Butter an even number of bread slices on one side.

  2. Place as many slices as will fit in the pan, butter side down, and put the filling on. Keep it a little more to the middle.

Options include plain cheese or any variations like ham/cheese/tomato, Hawaiian etc. Shredded leftover chicken with cheese or BBQ sauce. Leftover/tinned meat sauce or stew as long as it’s thick enough to quickly flip without spilling out. Leftover pasta bake or scrambled eggs. Anything you have leftover.

Or you can do a sweet version like Nutella or the Elvis (banana/honey/peanut butter).

  1. Put more slices of bread on top butter side up, and cover with a lid or a plate to cook it on low for a while. (5 minutes? Ten? I never actually timed it.) The combo of low heat and a lid will allow the sanga to steam a little, get heated through and let any cheese melt without quickly burning the outside.

  2. Check it after a while by removing the plate/lid and lifting a corner of a sandwich with a utensil. Be extra careful not to burn your fingers if using a plate, it’s not ideal for the purpose. If the sanga looks hot and melting and the bottom of the bread is golden brown then carefully flip it, replace the lid and cook the other side to the same done-ness.

Put them on a plate then let them cool a bit before you cut them in half and bite in. Cook more if your pan was small.

  • No1
    3·
    6 months ago

    This is great! I hate the trend of having a separate kitchen gadget for everything

    I do something very similar for a simple pizza in a pan,.rather than firing up an oven. I’m oven averse 😬

    Again, you can use anything on top. Leftovers etc.

    Wipe non-stick pan with oil. Medium heat. Put lebanese bread face down for a short time till it’s at least warm or slightly toasted. Flip so it’s face up. Aldi Lebanese bread fits nicely in a 30cm pan. Sauce, cheese, then whatever toppings you like. Cover with lid, and wait until the bottom has got nice and crisp. The cheese should have melted and the top ingredients heated up by then. If you really wanted the top to get a bit of a crisp on it, you could throw it under the griller for a while, but I can’t wait that long, and if you do, you probably should have done it in the oven anyway.

    My favourite topping for pizza, quesadillas, nachos1 or anything crispy:

    • sweat down onions cut into rings and different coloured capsicums cut into strips until they become nice and soft. They also become beautifully sweet.

    • Slice up chicken into bite size pieces, or dismantle a breast from a bachelor’s handbag into bite size pieces. Grab some mexican seasoning sachet, Fajita is my preferred, and coat the chicken lightly in that. Toss it around in a bowl to coat evenly. Chuck the chicken in the pan and cook/warm it.

    • Cheese & Sauce. You can use whatever cheese you like. I’ve been using Aldi’s Vintage Cheddar lately. Also, you don’t need to grate it. Just slice it reasonably thin and cover the area. BBQ sauce is the go. I use Bullseye Original, and loooooove it.

    • Put it on something crispy and enjoy 😋

    1 If doing nachos, leaving out bbq sauce, but adding sour cream, guac, diced tomatoes/salsa and lettuce is acceptable

    • melbaboutownOP
      3·
      6 months ago

      Glad you enjoyed! I thought I’d get laughed out because everyone already had an inexpensive jaffle iron or sandwich press.

      Your pizza is a good idea, the oven takes time and energy to heat up if you’re only doing a little bit of food.