Pizza Grilled Cheese

One evening I needed to throw together dinner really fast so I turned to this recipe I found on Pinterest.    It originated at thewaytoaheart.tumblr.com and after I pinned it to my board, a friend repinned it and tried it immediately.  She let me know that it was super simple to put together and her family loved it.  It was the first thing I thought of on my super busy day.

I didn't know if my youngest son was going to make it home in time to eat with us, so I made up three sandwiches just in case.  He eventually ate at a friend's house, so I refrigerated the third sandwich and my oldest son ate it later.  He heated it in the microwave, which made the bread more soft than it was when grilled, so I would suggest if reheating this sandwich to put it back on a griddle and reheat it over very low heat so as to keep the crunch on the bread.

I began by placing six slices of bread on my griddle and buttering the top slices of bread.  I then flipped them over so the buttered side was laying on the griddle.

I "opened" the sandwiches in order to add the filling.  The first of which was a slice of mozzarella cheese.

The original recipe didn't call for it, but I sprinkled some dry oregano leaves on next.  It did say that some parmesan cheese could be added at this point, but I didn't have any on hand, so I omitted that.

I followed that up with a layer of pepperoni.

Then I added another slice of mozzarella cheese.

The original recipe indicated that the finished sandwich could be dipped in pizza sauce, but I would have felt I needed to heat it first and that was another step I didn't have time for, so I decided to spread it on the top slice of the bread, so we could enjoy the flavor in every bite.

I then turned the pizza sauce side of the bread over so it was on top of the mozzarella and buttered the top of the sandwich.

I find that cooking grilled cheese is always best over a low heat, turning when the first side is toasty and brown.

Once the other side is toasted, it's ready to cut and serve.  This is a pretty tasty little sandwich that takes hardly any time to put together and kids of all ages will like it (my friend who made it first has twin girls who are almost 2 yrs. old and they liked it).  Enjoy!

Pizza Grilled Cheese

2 slices of bread

butter 

2 sliced mozzarella cheese

dried oregano

9 pepperoni slices

pizza sauce

Place bread on griddle; butter top slice of bread.  Flip bread so buttered side is against griddle.  Set aside unbuttered piece of bread.  Layer on top of buttered bread, 1 slice of mozzarella cheese, oregano, pepperoni, 1 slice of mozzarella.  Spread pizza sauce on unbuttered slice of bread and place sauce side down on top of mozzarella.  Butter plain side of bread.  Cook over low heat until bottom piece of bread is toasty and brown, checking frequently for doneness.  Flip entire sandwich and repeat on other side, removing from griddle when second side is toasty and browned.  

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.