If you’re hungry for a quick lunch or snack; a toasty, melty grilled cheese sandwich is the perfect solution. Serve with soup and make it a meal.

This is the perfect, quick sandwich recipe to make after completing a homemade soup. Just have your bread, butter, sandwich spread, and cheese standing by. Don’t worry about the traditional idea of a grilled cheese sandwich. Any bread or bagel, cheese, and butter that you have will be delicious. You may discover a new grilled cheese recipe.

One of my favorite combinations is goat cheese, 2 thick slices of an organic tomato, a handful of arugula leaves, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste on sourdough.

Build a fire, put on some sweats, pour a drink, put up your feet, and enjoy your warm sammy. You won’t even have a lot of dishes to do afterwards.

Make grilled cheese sliders for your friends on game day. They will be ultra impressed with your cheffing abilities and you will get to spend more time watching the game.

Or, prepare a full on comfort meal with chips, pickles, slaw, fries, and/or soup.

EQUIPMENT: cast iron skillet

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Recipe by Anna Stockel Cuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Any bread or bagel, cheese, and butter that you have will be delicious. You may discover a new grilled cheese recipe.

Ingredients

• The basics

• 2 slices favorite bread (grain, Pullman, pumpernickel, rye, sourdough, white…)

• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise or sandwich spread*

• 2 tablespoons organic unsalted butter or compound butter, softened**

• 4 ounces favorite melty cheese***

• freshly ground black pepper

• red pepper flakes (optional)

• freshly chopped herbs (optional)

• Break the rules

• sliced raw, skillet roasted, or fried pickles

• sauerkraut

• sliced avocado

• oven roasted garlic

• skillet roasted tomato slices

• skillet roasted Jalapeños or other pepper slices (ribs and seeds removed)

• caramelized mushrooms

• caramelized onions

• bacon slices

• ham slices

Directions

• Spread butter or butter compound on one side of each slice of bread.
• Assemble your sandwiches, buttered sides of bread on the outside. Choose your cheese(s) and your sandwich spread for the inside. Add any of the suggested ‘Break the rules” ingredients.
• Place a cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat.
• Press the sandwich slightly and place it in the skillet. Cover with a heavy metal lid or sandwich press. Cook until golden on the bottom, about 4 minutes.
• Flip and cook until the other side is golden and the cheese melts, about 3 more minutes.
• Place on a cutting board a,nd cut in half with a very sharp knife. Transfer to plates and serve with chips, pickles, slaw, fries, and or soup.

Notes

• *Oh my God so many! Kewpie mayonnaise, Aïoli, basil pesto, Celery Dipping Sauce, Horseradish Sauce, Russian Dressing, Thousand Island Dressing, Yum Yum Sauce, and Zesty White Barbecue Sauce.
• **Compound butters, mixtures of butter and other ingredients, are a delicious edition to your toasted bread. Some ideas are garlic and roasted garlic butter, herbs compound butter, and Snail Butter.
• ***Best cheese for grilled cheese – Alpine: fontina, gouda and smoked gouda, Gruyère, and Swiss; Soft Cow’s Or Goat’s Milk: Brie, Camembert, Chevré, cream cheese, feta, gorgonzola, mozzarella, provolone, ricotta, and Roquefort; and High Moisture: mild cheddar and smoked mild cheddar, and Monterey Jack. Skip the aged chedder, it tends to separate.