“Grilled” Cheese

I have loved grilled cheese for as long as I can remember.  Give me a grilled cheese with a bowl of tomato soup to dip it in and that is about one of the best comfort foods I can think of.  But have I ever had one that was actually grilled?  Why no, this food with grilled in the name has never been given such a treatment in my presence.  It almost makes me rage(in all of the wrong ways) now that I have had the opportunity to try it cooked in what I can only assume is the appropriate way.  Go ahead and find your inner rage after you try this tasty sandwich!  Rage on!

Ingredients

1. 8 slices of Italian Bread
2. 1 Clove Garlic, minced
3. 3 Tbsp. Butter
4. 2 Slices of Tomato(4 if the tomato is small)
5. 4 Slices of Pancetta
6. 4 oz. Mozzarella(fresh or sliced)
7. 4 oz. Smoked Gouda

Quick Directions

1. Melt butter in a small sauce pan on low, add garlic and turn to medium high and let cook for about 1-2 minutes.  Remove from heat.
2. Cook pancetta on medium high till cooked through.  About 4-8 minutes.
3. Brush butter garlic mix onto one side of each slice of bread.
4. Put about 1  oz. of cheese on unbuttered side of 4 slices of bread, 2 with gouda and 2 with mozzarella.
5. Place 2 slices of pancetta on top of the gouda ones, and 1 slice of tomato on the mozzarella ones.
6. Put about 1 oz. of gouda on top of the pancetta, and 1 oz. of mozzarella on the tomato.
7. Cover with remaining slices of bread, buttered side up.
8. Grill about 2-4 minutes on each side with lid on.
9. Enjoy.

This really is a simple dish, so don’t go and get yourself all worried about the steps.  Start off by simply melting the butter in a small sauce pan.  Low works great here, you don’t want to cook the butter.  Once you have it fully melted add in the minced garlic and turn the heat up to medium high and let it cook for about 1-2 minutes to get the garlic into the butter.

Now, you can get the pancetta going at the same time on medium high.  It will take about 4-8 minutes, turn it a few times and it will cook similar to bacon.  You can use bacon in place of the pancetta if your grocery store doesn’t carry it or you want to save a little money.  It is often considered an Italian bacon because of the different flavors and it isn’t smoked like bacon is.

So your basic prep is done.  You just have to put the thing together.  Start by brushing the garlic butter onto one side of 4 slices of bread.  If you don’t have a brush, don’t worry!  Just simply use a spoon to  gently pour it on and spread it out.  Make do with what tools you have at your disposal.  I placed them butter side down onto a baking pan to make assembly and transport to the grill easier.

Put about 1 oz. of gouda on 2 slices and 1 oz. of mozzarella on the other two.  This doesn’t have to be completely accurate.  Just thin slices of cheese to cover the bread.



Put two slices of the pancetta on the 2 gouda pieces, and 1 tomato on the mozzarella ones(2 slices if the tomato is small, you want full coverage).  Once that is done, put close to the same amounts of cheese on top.

It isn’t an exact science here.  The purpose of the cheese on both sides is to lock in the pancetta and tomato, but if one side has slightly more cheese then the other…it is ok.  Don’t get into an angry rage here!  It’s not like somebody has been making you grilled cheese for all of your life without actually grilling them.  We can handle a slightly different amount of cheese here.

Once you have the cheese on both sides with the goodies inside, you can butter the other four slices and place them butter side out.  You’re pretty much set here.  These can be made ahead of time and hold in the refrigerator for a few hours no problem.  You don’t want to keep them too long, though, as it will dry the bread out.

Transport them to your closest grill and get started.  They won’t take long and be vigilant so that they  don’t get burned.  It really only takes about 2-4 minutes on each side.  This does depend on how hot your grill is though.  I put the lid on the grill so that the heat would circle around and help the top side while the bottom was on the heat.  This creates an oven atmosphere that will really help the cheese to melt and not leave you with charred bread and barely melted cheese.  Nobody wants a barely melted grilled cheese.
So that is basically it.  Go enjoy a grilled cheese for the first time.  I mean an actually grilled cheese sandwich.  Who would have thought.  Rage on friends.



A “Grilled” Cheese
Things line up this day.  We found success in the kitchen that is worthy enough to write home to mom about.  Don’t worry if you slightly burn a side while testing this guy out, I did.  Four minutes on the grill creeps up fast and I wasn’t being vigilant enough!  I did make sure to pay more attention on the second side and it still tasted delicious.  If you don’t have access to a grill, you can follow the same recipe but do it in a frying pan instead.  You will still get a tasty grilled cheese it just will be lacking some of that great flavor a grill imparts.  You can also go with the old stand by of a couple of slices of American cheese if you don’t want to step out of the comfort spot.  Bacon instead of pancetta, another great substitute.  Take your favorite cheese and find your own delicious sandwich.  Feel free to leave it in the comments so that I can try it.  And of course, rage on my friends, rage on.