When you think of comfort food there are a few obvious choices. To me, one of them will always be a grilled cheese sandwich. When it comes to grilled cheese the sky’s the limit these days, as we’ve seen everything and anything you can imagine wedged between slices of American cheese and bread.
Of course, you can use other types of cheese in addition to American, but you need that melty, gooey all- American flavor to make it a real grilled cheese sandwich. Remember when you were little and the highlight of the trip to the grocery store was when the deli clerk gave you a slice of cheese? There’s something about freshly cut American cheese, the texture seems smoother and it almost melts in your mouth as you eat it. What makes a grilled cheese sandwich so special is that freshly cut deli cheese. And no matter what anyone tells you, you’re never too old for a slice of cheese at that deli counter. I still ask for mine!
I didn’t really have to think too hard to come up with my sandwich. I do love a good grilled cheese and depending upon what I have in my refrigerator mine can get a variety of added ingredients. But for this sandwich, I wanted to stay in an Italian frame of mind, so I decided to stuff my grilled cheese with roasted peppers and sautéed spinach.
I have a tried and true method when I make an extra special grill cheese sandwich. I melt the butter then brush it on the bread, making sure to get a good even coat on one side of the slice. I don’t want any dry spots! Then I bring out the grill pan to leave those lovely marks on the bread as it toasts, changing it from a plain sandwich into a panini. As for my choice of bread, for a sandwich like this its got to be a good loaf of sourdough extra wide and thickly sliced. The kind of bread that’s perfect for this hearty grilled cheese sandwich.
Now to take this sandwich just a little over the top, I added some finely chopped basil to the melted butter, so when I brushed the butter on, little specks of basil were embedded with the butter onto the bread. And just to make it an even more special I sprinkled grated Romano cheese on top of the butter.
If Leonardo da Vinci ever made a grilled cheese sandwich, he would have made this one. It truly was a masterpiece.
- 4 slices of sourdough bread thickly sliced from a wide loaf.
- 1/2 pound of LAND O LAKES® 4 Cheese Italian Blend - thinly sliced
- 1 red pepper deseeded and sliced
- 1 yellow pepper deseeded and sliced
- 3 cups baby spinach leaves
- 1 cloves garlic - finely chopped
- 3 leaves large basil - finely chopped
- 4 ounces unsalted butter -melted
- 2 tablespoons grated Romano Cheese
- sea salt and black pepper to season peppers and spinach
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Place sliced peppers in baking dish and drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and a sprinkle of sea salt and black pepper. Toss peppers so all are coated with oil and seasonings.
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until the peppers start to get dark. Remove from oven and allow to cool
- In a saute pan add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, chopped garlic and spinach. Sauté until spinach is wilted and has changed to a dark green color. Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Allow to cool slightly
- Start building your sandwiches by placing four slices of sourdough bread on the counter
- Cover each slice of bread with a total of 4 cheese slices on each slice of bread. ( 2 to cover the bread, and two deep)
- Divide one half of the spinach on top of two slices of bread, leaving half of the spinach for later.
- Place 6- 8 slices of roasted pepper on the bread, varying the color so when it is cut you'll see both colors of peppers.
- Top these two slices with the remaining spinach.
- Top the two finished sandwiches halves, with the other piece of sourdough that you have cheese already on, with the cheese facing the spinach. (You should have a total of 8 slices of cheese on each sandwich, 4 on the bottom and 4 on the top)
- Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat, then add the finely chopped basil. Set aside till needed.
- Heat your grill pan on the stove top until it is hot enough to leave marks on the bread.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the basil-butter onto one side of the sandwich, and sprinkle with grated Romano cheese. Place the buttered side down on the pan.
- Turn heat down to medium, and cover the sandwich with a pot lid to keep the heat in and help the cheese to melt.
- After about 3-4 minutes check the bread on the pan to see how the color is. It should be toasted a dark golden brown.
- Brush butter on the side that is up, sprinkle with grated Romano cheese and turn it over to repeat the process of toasting the bread. (Use the pot lid again to help melt the cheese)
- After 3-4 minutes check that side, to see how the color is.
- If the cheese is not fully melted, turn the heat down to low and keep the lid covering the sandwich until the cheese has melted. Just be careful not to burn the bread.
- Slice the sandwich carefully with a serrated knife and serve immediately with a side salad.
Without a doubt, this has to be one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. The spinach and roasted peppers were the perfect complements to that flavorful cheese, and as it oozed from the sandwich I thought to myself, life just doesn’t get much better than this. So when we talk about comfort food, we need to talk about this sandwich.
Wow, this looks great! I need to get more creative with grilled cheese…good inspiration here!
Thanks David, it turned out better than I expected!
This looks so oozy gooey good-great comfort food! And I love the Land ‘O Lakes giving idea this month–super great, enjoy your weekend, anne
Thanks Anne, it really turned out better than I had imagined!
I love grilled cheese, these are the perfect toppings!
My wife thinks I’m crazy when I add other foods to grilled cheese, but I love the different flavor combinations!
YES, please. This is going to be my lunch today! What a great combo with the melted cheese!
thanks Carol, it really was a most excellent sandwich!
Hi Chef Dennis!!!
I see you are still churning out enticing deliciousness!!! Happy Grilled Cheese Month! Your Italian Grilled Cheese with Roasted Peppers and Spinach not only sounds yummy, it looks scrumptious!!!
Hope all is well with you and yours. It has been quite a winter for us in PA, I bet you sure are happy to finally see the sun!!!
Stay well, Louise
hi Louise
thanks so much for stopping by and I’m happy to hear you enjoyed my sandwich! Hopefully this will be my last winter in the Northeast, we’ll be Florida bound within the next year or so.
and it certainly is nice to see the sun
Cheers
Dennis
Great sammie!! We don’t make grilled cheese often, but when we do it’s always nice to sneak in a few veggies! Now I just need to run out and grab a loaf of gluten free bread!
it really is a wonderful to change up a classic sandwich, thanks for stopping by!
I love grilled cheese, and I never thought of adding other ingredients to it. This post just gave me new things to do with my favorite sandwich. Thanks, Chef Dennis!
Thanks Betty Ann! love changing up my grilled cheese with different toppings, and this sandwich was amazing!
I was wondering what type of bread that is when I saw it on Google+. This really looks and sounds delicious. What a great veggie sandwich. Going to have to make this one. Thanks Chef Dennis.
hi Suzi
it was sourdough bread, I found an extra wide loaf of it and it had such an nice texture, it was perfect for grilled cheese!
I just found out I’ll be in Orlando for the Food and Wine Conference in July, will you be going?
My bread is in the oven now. I will be using it to make these amazing sandwiches for my grandson and his friends this afternoon. They are true connoisseurs when it comes to grilled cheese sandwiches. So keep these wonderful recipes coming, Dennis.
I can’t wait to hear how your grandson and his friend enjoy their sandwiches, I can only imagine how good they will be on home made bread!
Cheers
Dennis
Oh, my! Three 17 year-old boys polished off two and a half sandwiches apiece. I was told that this is definitely “a keeper.” That is high praise indeed! This sandwich will become a regular in my home.
Thanks for this excellent addition to my recipe box.
I would say that was a pretty successful sandwich..lol. Be careful they’ll tell their friends and you may have to open up a grilled cheese sandwich stand!
thanks so much for letting me know! Have you tried my buffalo chicken grilled cheese sandwich, it’s one of my favorites!
I have been feeding my grandson’ s friends since they were in 1st grade, Chef Dennis. I love having them here and feeding them, too. They are are a joy to be around. They love good food and are always appreciative. My grandson and one of his friends are so inspired that they are taking a culinary class just for the sheer pleasure of it. Sometimes they even cook for me!
Since I discovered your website I have made many of your recipes. That Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese is a huge hit in my home. I now have my eye on those Meyer lemon ricotta cookies. I plan to try them soon. They sound very much like a cookie my Italian grandmother used to make back when I was a young girl.
Please keep these recipes coming. We enjoy them immensely.
Now this is one good looking grilled cheese sandwich!
Thanks Lisa, it even surprised me and how good it was! Gotta love a good grilled cheese!
I can eat grilled cheese sandwich everyday. One of my fav is corn and spinach. This sounds really fantastic too!
thank you! It did turn out really well, that Land O Lakes Italian american cheese was the perfect match for those flavors!
This looks delicious!!! Wouldn’t mind having one for lunch!!! Thanks for sharing!
Your’e very welcome and thank you for stopping by!
Chef this looks phenomenal! Totally perfect for this time of year!
Thanks Raven, I do love cheese, and this sandwich was over the top!
Looks really good! I bet the vegetables help lightening up the cheese!
OMG. I want this now! Looks delicious, and I’m especially partial because I absolutely love spinach, roasted red peppers…. yum! Also thanks for sharing the pin a meal, give a meal. Sounds like a good way of trying to give back.
it really was delicious Allie, the flavors all came together, Thanks!
Great comfort food, and what a great idea to get some vegies into kids’ food. Peppers and spinach make for a great combo, and I would think the flavors came out beautiful.
hi Minnie
thanks for stopping by, and yes the flavors were amazing!1
This looks like the perfect grilled cheese sandwich. It is so true that a grilled cheese is one of the perfect comfort foods.
Thanks for stopping by Dawn, and it was even better than I expected. Just a wonderful combination of flavors!
Your recipe is looks awsme, you give the easiest way to prepare this recipe, from your
recipe tips many people gets advantage.
This made me very hungry! I think I’m going to try your recipe.
Thanks Anda, its one of my favorite sandwiches!
Wonderful recipe, Chef Dennis. Looks very delicious!