A delicious spinach and cheese sandwich made on French bread. Make these open faced spinach melts as an easy dinner or side to soup.
A good veggie melt recipe is underrated! This open face sandwich is like a delicious spinach dip on top of toasty French bread. I can get into that, and I'll tell you how easy these are to make!
I created this recipe as part of a soups and toasts story I did years ago. I love how simple it is, and how well it goes with almost any soup you're making.
What a great way to spruce up your loaf of bread or baguette! Serve these spinach melts with any of these soups.
Types of sandwiches
Sandwich lovers unite! We know a good sammy when we see one.
There are club sandwiches, the grilled cheese sandwich, tartines, subs, sliders, melts, open faced sandwiches and the Danish smorrebrod.
Sandwiches, in all their forms can be meals, sides or snacks. This spinach cheese toast on French bread is a great side to cozy soup.
Speaking of sandwiches: one of my favorite hot sandwiches is my Spicy Sweet Grilled Chicken Sandwich with melty Gouda and pepper jelly. It's divine.
What is a tartine?
In French tartine means "slice of bread." We typically use the term to refer to any open-faced sandwich. This spinach toast recipe included!
I love tartines because they showcase all the ingredients on top of that slice of bread. There's not another bread situation on top to take away from the goodness. Here's a little article about tartines in the New York Times.
Oh wouldn't we love to know who invented the open faced sandwich? Must have been those lovely French chefs that coined the term tartine.
These open faced spinach melts count as a tartine as well as a melt. Melts and cheese go hand in hand. I used Comte or Fontina cheese on this spinach melt.
How to make a spinach sandwich
Frozen spinach is the best type of spinach to use for an open faced sandwich.
Frozen spinach is an underutilized ingredient in my opinion. It is awesome in pastas, smoothies and soups for sure.
- To use it in egg dishes or here with melted cheese however, you need to squeeze all of the excess water out of it.
- Yes it's a bit waterlogged from being cooked then flash frozen, but when the water is removed it claims even more places on the menu!
- I buy it and put it right in the fridge to thaw for a day or so. It's ready for me to squeeze, with love of course, and use.
Assemble these open faced Spinach Melts:
With just three ingredients, these open faced spinach melts come together in minutes.
- Thaw spinach and squeeze out excess water.
- Heat broiler.
- Combine spinach and grated cheese.
- Cut half a loaf of French bread or baguette in half to make a top and a bottom.
- Top each half with the spinach cheese mixture.
- Broil until cheese is melted.
- Serve with soup or a salad.
Hot Open Faced Sandwich Spinach Melts
Ingredients
- 1 10-oz pkg frozen spinach thawed
- kosher salt and pepper
- 1½ cups Comte or Fontina Cheese grated
- ½ French Baguette or loaf
Instructions
- Heat broiler, with the rack 4 to 6 inches from the element.
- Thaw spinach and using your hands squeeze out water until spinach is quite dry. You can also press the spinach into the bottom of a colander to release the water.
- Crumble the dry spinach into a bowl and sprinkle with some salt and pepper; mix with cheese.
- Split half a French baguette or loaf so there is a top and a bottom. Toast under a broiler to crisp the top but not brown, about 1 minute.
- Pile spinach and cheese mixture evenly over toasted halves and broil until melted, 3 to 5 minutes. Cut in half and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
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About Tara Teaspoon
I’ve been in the food publishing business for over 20 years, creating recipes & food-styling for magazines, books, television & advertising. Order my new cookbook & stick around for amazing things to eat.
Recipe by Tara Teaspoon
