I have been on a
cold weather hot meal kick lately. I love soups and I love hot sandwiches. And
while I am a huge fan of grilled cheese, the traditional grilled cheese
sandwich just has not been cutting it for me lately. So I decided to spice
things up a bit today and take a chance.
Butter
one side of each slice of bread (*optional* if you like you can instead use
olive oil drizzled directly on the skillet to cook the sandwich)
I thought I would
raid my fridge and see what came about… dangerous, I know. Especially after
spending some time on Pinterest this morning ogling over brie and hazelnut and
pear grilled cheese and every variance in between. Some of which I pinned to
try at a later date.
Since lunch time
was fast approaching there would be no quick trips to the grocery store to pick
up must have items for the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich. It was make or
break time and I went a little cheese happy. So what did I make? Not your
classic grilled cheese sandwich, that’s for sure. First things first, I had to
check out my cheese situation in order to decide on the flavor I wanted to go
for. I had shredded low fat mozzarella cheese, sliced provolone, and American cheese…hhmmmm.
Combine the power of multiple cheeses, or stick with one? Who was I kidding,
the more cheese the merrier!
After a quick
glance at my condiment section I decided that the ranch was out- I have been
eating a lot of raw veggies in ranch sauce lately and I wanted something a
little nuttier. I decided to use my pesto sauce as a spread for my sandwich, it
had been a while since I have eaten pesto {hubby is not a fan}. So I threw some
stuff on the counter and went to work making my ultimate grilled cheese pesto sandwich. Sounds yummy,
right? It totally was… I ate two.
What you need:
2 slices of bread per sandwich (I use whole
wheat bread)
Basil pesto sauce
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Sliced provolone cheese
Tomato (I used vine ripened
tomatoes and sliced them thinly)
Butter or olive oil –
depending on how you choose to cook.
Make it:
Butter
one side of each slice of bread (*optional* if you like you can instead use
olive oil drizzled directly on the skillet to cook the sandwich)
Spread
the pesto sauce on one slice of the bread -not on the buttered side.
Sprinkle
a handful (roughly 1/4 cup) of the shredded mozzarella cheese on the pesto sauce.
Place
sliced tomatoes on top of the shredded mozzarella cheese.
Next,
put the slice of provolone cheese on top of the tomato slices.
Place
the other piece of bread on top to make the sandwich (butter side facing out).
Cook
the sandwich on a skillet over medium heat. Flip the sandwich over after 2-3
minutes, or when the sandwich has turned a golden brown and the cheese has
melted around the edges.
While I don’t believe that I am breaking the mold here with this variation on the grilled cheese sandwich, I do feel that it is different enough to warrant sharing and delicious enough to warrant a blog post. Seriously, I went back and made another sandwich because the first one was so yummy. I would love to hear what you think.
Do you
have a “not your average grilled cheese sandwich” that you love?
This post
is being submitted at the Delicious Dish Tuesday link-up so make sure you stop by the
host's pages to see the great recipes they are showing and their favorite picks
from last week’s submitted recipes.
Amanda of Coping with Frugality, Johanna of Mama Chocolate and Alesha of Full Time Mama
