Grilled Cheese Italiano

My husband told me last night that this is his favorite sandwich that I make.  It's also the easiest!  This is a totally new spin on the old classic grilled cheese sandwich.  

In the original, American cheese is the staple, but in this sandwich I use Swiss cheese.  With a couple other ingredients, it has the Italian flavor, thus the name.  I found this recipe in one of those little Pillsbury cookbooks that are sold at the checkstand in the grocery store.  This sandwich gets 8's and 9's on the Melnarik rating scale.  If it is truly my husband's favorite, I think he should give it a 10, I'm just sayin'!

One of the nice things about this sandwich is that it's so easy to put together and doesn't take long to cook.  I had to feed my guys at two different times, so this was the perfect choice; I didn't feel as though I was preparing two whole meals.  I put my bread directly on my grill pan and apply a little butter to one side of each sandwich.  Then I flip them over and "open" the sandwich.

The first layer is the Swiss cheese.  This nice whole grain bread is wider than the normal "sandwich" bread, so I had to use 1 1/3 slices.

Next on is some deli smoked ham.

Then I add some fresh basil leaves.  To me, this is what makes this sandwich.  One of my sons and I love this punch of flavor, so I add the full leaves to our sandwiches.  For my husband and other son, I take one basil leaf and tear it into small pieces and distribute it evenly over the ham.  I top that with very thinly sliced Roma tomatoes and more Swiss cheese followed by a quick sprinkle of pepper. (Sorry, no photo.)  I replace the top piece of bread and apply butter to it.

It gets grilled like a normal grilled cheese sandwich over medium heat, flipping it when the first side is toasty and removing it from the griddle when the second side is toasty.  My mom used to make grilled cheese and ham sandwiches that I loved, but this takes it a step further and is even more tasty.  Enjoy!

Grilled Cheese Italiano

Whole-grain bread, 2 slices per sandwich

Softened butter

Sliced Swiss cheese

Thinly sliced deli ham

Fresh basil leaves

Roma tomato, thinly sliced

Pepper

Place 2 slices bread on griddle, butter one side; flip so buttered side is against griddle.  Open and layer with Swiss cheese, ham, basil, tomato slices, and Swiss cheese; sprinkle with pepper.  Place top slice of bread on top and apply butter.  Cook over medium heat until toasty, flip and cook until toasty.