Our garden is in full bloom right now and we wanted to make a light dinner last night. I wiped up these easy, cheesey sandwiches. I know a grilled cheese sandwich usually is for the kids, but these sandwiches are so good! I found a little inspiration from this recipe on Edible Symphony.
To make these sandwiches, there are three easy steps – make your pesto, put pesto, tomato & mozzarella on the bread and cook with a panini press. Cook to your liking – I prefer my mozzarella warm, but not quite melted. Evan prefers it oozing over the side!
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Tomato Basil Grilled Cheese
Ingredients:
8 slices Sourdough or bread that you like
4 thick slices of Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
8 thick slices of tomatoes
1 cup of fresh basil
1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1-2 Cloves of Garlic
To Make Pesto:
Combine basil, parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt, garlic & pepper in food processor. Pulse until blended, but still a rough texture. Be sure to scrape the sides of the processor a few times to make sure it is mixed in.
Spread Pesto on one slice of bread. Add tomato and then cheese. Top with another slice of bread. (do not put pesto on both slices of bread.. it may be too strong).
You can either drizzle olive oil on the panini press or brush it lightly on the outside of the bread. If you decide to drizzle, be sure to use olive oil for each sandwich. (If you are just using a skillet, use something to put weight on the sandwich)
Cook 2-3 minutes per side, until golden and mozzarella melted (as melted as you like).
Enjoy.
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Happy Cooking!
Stacey says
I make these alot! I sometimes take chopped up chicken and mix it with the pesto and sometimes just put the basil leaves on the sandwich too! My favorite!
Shannon says
yummo. will try chicken next time!
Stephanie says
Okay, I had no idea pesto was so easy to make!! Pretty sure I have some basil out in my garden right now……thinking I may have to make some of these for dinner tonight!!
Shannon says
Steph,
let us know how they turn out! some people add pine nuts to their pesto.. but my son doesnt like them so we skip them.
Stephanie says
Made the pesto and it tastes really good! Realized I don’t have mozzarella or tomatoes…..didn’t really think this through, lol. Trying to decide if I should save the pesto for another day after I get to the store or just use it in another recipe. Decisions, decisions…
Shannon says
It is delish on pasta too!
Christa K. says
Wow, I agree with the starving comment – looks amazing! How do you determine ‘1 cup’ of the basil? Is it just loose leaf or packed in real good? (Kind of like trying to figure out how to measure brown sugar!)
Shannon says
Its loose leaf, if you dont like the flavor you can always throw in more, but you cannot take it out once it is in!
lynn@Maven of Savin' says
OMG – that looks divine and I am STARVING! I cannot wait to try it. Thanks for the recipe.