Recipe: Grilled Tomato and Cheese Sandwich – Grilled Cheese Grows Up
By Amelia Tucker
Nothing beats a grilled cheese sandwich – except if you add a tomato.
Taking a page from your childhood favorite recipes, make this amazing grilled sandwich that mingles fabulous bread, subtle sharp cheese and of course, the heady taste of a sun-ripened tomato.
For the exact indulgence, follow the recipe closely. For your own twist on this one of a kind dish, substitute any of it with your local favorites.
Be sure to post your results in the comments!
Ingredients:
Butter for spreading on the bread
2 slices of good quality Sourdough Rye (find one with a chewy texture and bold Rye taste. Your local bakery is a good bet if you can’t bake your own).
2 sandwich size slices of the sharpest Cheddar cheese you can find
1 medium tomato, fresh from your garden or the local farm market
Directions:
- Heat a cast iron pan to just below medium heat
- While pan is heating, butter both slices of bread.
- Core and slice tomato into thin slices.
- Lightly salt and pepper the tomato slices to taste.
- Layer the sandwich with a slice of buttered bread(butter side down if you are new to cooking), one slice of cheese, all the tomato slices that you can stack, another slice of cheese and the final piece of bread(butter side up this time).
- Gently place your sandwich onto the preheated pan and cook until it is evenly dark brown.
- Flip and repeat.
- The key here is to use the best ingredients you can find, cook the sandwich enough to brown the butter, melt the cheese and warm the tomato inside.
The cheese being layered this way ensures that all the tomato remains in the finished sandwich and can’t escape with the first bite.
This sandwich makes a great summertime dinner or dare I say, comfort food?
One bite and you will know why.
