I went through a phase many years ago where I was searching for the best grilled cheese sandwich. It kind of ended when I realized that all grilled cheese sandwiches are pretty good. This grilled cheese tapenade with homemade sun-dried tomatoes and olive tapenade remains one of my favorites though.
The trick to making this sandwich delicious is definitely the homemade tapenade. In fact, I’ll often double the tapenade recipe and use it for all sorts of things!
Good fresh mozzarella cheese is also nice in this sandwich. Just be careful not to over melt the cheese or it may fall apart!
Preparation of the tapand
You can make a more traditional tapenade with capers and anchovies if that’s your thing. But I went with a garlic and sundried tomato version.
If you have time, you can roast a head of garlic. It couldn’t be easier. Just cut off the top of a whole bulb, drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and wrap everything in foil.
Bake it at 350 for about 30-40 minutes. Your house will smell delicious and the garlic should be a nice light brown color. Let it cool for a few minutes.
I have made this tapenade several times over the years without roasting the garlic and it works just fine. The advantage of roasting the garlic is that you can add more garlic as it is a milder flavor profile.
Olive tapenade like this is easiest to make in a food processor although you can just chop everything together as well. I threw in my sun dried tomatoes first as they would be the hardest to chop and gave them a spin for a few seconds. Then I added my olives and finally my roasted garlic cloves. Drip in a few tablespoons of olive oil until the mixture comes together.
Bonus tip: If your sundried tomatoes come in olive oil, use a few tablespoons of that oil in the tapenade for extra flavor.
Click it a few times to combine everything and you’ll be ready. You don’t want to over process this spread. A little chunky is good in my book.
Making the grilled cheese sandwich
I think choosing the right bread is one of the most important things you can do for grilled cheese. For this sandwich I think I chose wisely. I went with a rustic sourdough loaf even though I’ve also made it with homemade no-knead bread.
You want to make sure you’ve got something hearty enough to stand up to the tapfand.
To make the sandwich, take two slices of bread and lightly spread butter on them. This will be the outside of the sandwich. Then turn the pieces over and spread a little tapenade on both sides of the bread. Layer on mozzarella slices and some fresh basil and mash everything together so the buttered sides are on the outside!
It’s ready to heat!
The main thing in a grilled cheese sandwich is the control of the heat. until hot and you’ll burn your bread before your cheese melts. Too low on the heat and you’ll starve before it’s done.
Medium to medium-high heat should be about right depending on your stove and pan. Just put the sandwich in and let it cook for a few minutes and flip it over gently. These are not like pancakes, you can flip them over and over and it’s perfectly fine.
It’s about as perfect as it gets in my book:
The good news about this sandwich is that the mozzarella melts incredibly quickly. So you don’t have to worry about the bread being toasted before the cheese melts. In fact, the concern is that if you cook this sandwich too long, the mozzarella will over-melt and just fall apart in your sandwich. Fresh mozzarella is already very soft so just heat it up and it will be great.
My recipe for grilled cheese and sun-dried tomatoes
Tapered grilled cheese sandwich
Grilled cheese made from mozzarella and olives, roasted garlic, dried tomato tapenade.
- 3 cloves garlic
- ⅓ Goblet dried tomatoes
- ⅓ Goblet Kalamata olives
- 2 spoons Olive oil A jar of sun-dried tomatoes
- salt and pepper
- 8 ounces Fresh mozzarella cheese
- Fresh scent
- 4 slices Sourdough bread
- 2 spoons butter
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In a food processor, chop dried tomatoes, then add olives and garlic. Drip in a few tablespoons of olive oil until the mixture comes together and leaves it a little chunky.
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Take two slices of bread and lightly spread butter on them.
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Turn the pieces over and sprinkle a little tapenade on both sides of the bread.
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Layer on slices of mozzarella and some fresh basil and press together so the buttered sides are on the outside.
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Grill over medium to medium-high heat for a few minutes, turning gently as often as needed.
dose: 1SandwichCalories: 999KKLCarbohydrates: 82Gprotein: 42GFat: 58GSaturated fat: 25GPolyunsaturated fat: 4GUnsaturated fat: 24Gtrans fat: 0.5GCholesterol: 120mgsodium: 1943mgpotassium: 896mgfiber: 6GSugar: 14Gvitamin: 1365IUVitamin C: 9mgcalcium: 683mgiron: 7mg
did you do that?
Take a picture and tag @macheesmo So I can see your work.
