London lunch box: a recipe inspired by The Drapers Arms

Laoise Casey creates cheap, easy-to-cook lunch boxes inspired by things she has eaten in some of London's best restaurants and cafes #DrapersArmslunchbox
The London lunch box: chef Laoise Casey has created a recipe inspired by The Drapers Arms in Islington (pic: Laoise Casey)
Laoise Casey4 August 2014

Drapers Arms lunch box: ham hock triple decker sandwich

The Drapers Arms in Islington is run by Nick Gibson, and his head chef Gina Hopkins has recently joined and is doing amazing things with the menu. After I’d been there I knew just what type of lunch box this had to be – a pimped up one.

Each Saturday The Drapers Arms has a 'pimped-up burger' on its menu with £1 for each one sold donated towards Action Against Hunger. Now I’m not suggesting you need to fry lasagne for your lunch box - although Nick might do that for you - but I do want to consider one of my favourite things there, the ham hock dish, and I was thinking about what would happen if I did a pimped-up sandwich with it.

So this is what I call a proper sandwich, a version with ham hock, charcuterie, juicy pickled red onions, mustard dressing and cheese. Ham hock is an often over-looked meat but has a beautiful flavour and you can buy ready cooked versions in many supermarkets. With special thanks to Gina for her time and kindly providing her recipes.*

What you will need:

4 thin slices of red onion

1 egg

1 ½ tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. water

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tbsp. olive oil

Handful salad leaves

80g cooked ham hock

3 slices smoked sausage or your choice of charcuterie, e.g. prosciutto/chorizo

2 slices cheddar cheese

3 slices ciabatta or sourdough bread, toasted

Sea salt, to season

Equipment:

Water to boil

Saucepan

Bowl

Whisk or fork

Toaster

Cost to make per portion: £3.10

Preparation time: 10 minutes

How to make it:

Place the red onion slices in 1 tbsp. of the red wine vinegar and the sugar mixed together. Leave them to marinate and they will become juicy and sweet. Drain before serving.

Cook the egg until hardboiled, in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Allow to cool then peel and slice into quarters.

For the mustard dressing whisk the Dijon, ½ tbsp. of the red wine vinegar and water together. Slowly add the olive oil and whisk until blended. Spread the dressing on the toasted bread.

Then start to layer salad leaves, ham hock, charcuterie, boiled egg, cheese and red onions. Keep going until you're satistfied.

* And there is just one more thing. This is the type of sandwich you might want to be alone with for a little while.

Follow Laoise Casey on twitter @cuisine_genie

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