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| Why hello gorgeous! |
There are two things in season here in North Carolina that make this sandwich the bee's knees. Basil and tomatoes. Oh so divine tomatoes, proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. I am a huge lover of tomato sandwiches. 2 pieces of fresh white bread, Duke's mayonnaise, vine-ripened tomatoes with salt and pepper. That is heaven on a plate. But not for dear hubby. He is not a fan. But, throw bacon and mozzarella cheese on that sucker and grill it on a cast iron skillet and he drools.
So when we decided we wanted to splurge a little but realized we need to splurge on the cheap, I thought what better way than a "fency" grilled cheese. Definitely not yellow cheese on white bread but not a budget buster.
The Sass in Sass Mouth Kitchen doesn't just come from my ability to make my mother call me by my full name. It actually stands for Simple-Affordable-Southern-Staples and what is more of a staple than a grilled cheese. In the winter time this would simply be a grilled cheese (pancetta, pesto and mozzarella) served with tomato soup. The soup I make with tomatoes I put up in the summer. The pesto, I freeze from all the summer basil. But it was 95 degrees and no one was studying soup. So, I decided to use the fresh tomatoes that I am craving in the winter when I make the soup on the sandwich instead. The result? YUM!
Here is what you need...
1 piece of thinly sliced pancetta per sandwich fried until crispy.
-Like bacon, a little pancetta goes a long way in the flavor department. Ask for it to be sliced thin. 1/4 of a pound of pancetta will make up to 6 sandwiches.
1-2 slices of tomato per sandwich
Basil to taste
2 pieces of bread per sandwich
-I also slice my mozzarella thin. This sandwich is quite rich with pancetta, mozzarella and butter so a little goes a long way. For this sandwich, I used Old World Sprouted Bread. It is reminiscent of a sourdough bread which was nice. It worked well with the richness of the sandwich.
I cut a chiffonade of basil. I do this because it makes it easier to eat on the sandwich. Instead of biting into a hard to eat leaf, this gives you basil in each yummy bite.
Chiffonade sounds fancy but it is simply rolling the leaves into a cigar shape and slicing them into ribbons.
Then the good stuff happens... assembly! Butter the outsides of your bread. If you want to live dangerously, butter the insides too. This is a judgment free zone.
I *heart* bacon!
-I put my pancetta down first.
And Tomatoes!
-And then I put my tomatoes down. Putting the tomatoes in the middle helps prevent a soggy sandwich. But it may not hang around long enough for that to be an issue.
And basil! And cheese! See a pattern?
No panini maker? No problem! Hey, I got skills!
-Grill on medium heat until the outside is crunchy and the inside is gooey.
Heaven!
love- j
