Mozzarella Grilled Cheese Sandwich

My wife and I love this sandwich. Basil, sourdough, mozzarella, olive oil, garlic and tomato. Wondering if anybody has any suggestions to make it “perfect”? Perhaps a technique? Maybe a suggested ratio of ingredients?

Sounds perfect as is!!!

Replace the tomato with pancetta?

Add crispy pancetta for texture and umami or make it like this? Zucchini cake instead of bread.

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Oh, baby!

Simple, with fresh ingredients. Don’t tamper with perfection.

From the Gourmet cookbook I do a similar sandwich.

Theirs lacks the basil, garlic and tomato but adds chopped capers and soaks the bread in egg, milk, salt and pepper so that it gains the richness of french toast. You can experiment with adding those to your version. The capers do a great job of cutting the richness of the cheese.

It’s apparently a Sicilian specialty known as Mozzarella in Carrozza.

I think seasoning the Mozzarella with salt and pepper is key. Mozzarella does not have a lot of flavor, but with tomatoes and basil it is perfect.

Maybe add some crispy prosciutto?

A few drops of Worcestershire sauce prior to grilling enhances a grilled cheese sandwich.

I like Action Bronson’s childhood favorite sesame bagel (hollowed) stuffed with Polly-O whole milk mozzarella then toasted under the oven broiler until bubbly with brown crispy spots on top.

BAGEL WITH CHEESE
Difficulty: “Quite basic, but there’s definitely technique. You have to follow instructions.”

Method: “You’ve got to start off with a phenomenal bagel. You hollow that bagel out. You could keep that amazing dough on the side and eat it with some cheese – it’s like a little snack. But you hollow that fucking bagel out and you fill it up with mozzarella cheese, which melts phenomenally.”

Action says: “It’s phenomenal. Something about it, you put it under the broiler [grill] and it becomes this bubbly brown goo, and then the crispiness around the edges of the bagel are all burnt. Phenomenally crunchy.”

I like to let the cheese melt off the sides and fry around, making crispy cheese edges of the sandwich. nom nom nom

Hmmmm Not a mozzarella fan but maybe I need to find some quality product. I’ve a couple of big pots of Basil going gang busters right now in tip top condition. Tomatoes are a challenge locally too for some reason currently but that’s another story.

For Grilled cheese I tend to hew to the Brit side of things, but that’s not what this is about.

Some great ideas here. For me, the ratio of ingredients is very important. Fresh is absolutely essential. I’ve been playing around with different types of bread trying to find one that seems harmonious. There’s something deeply satisfying about a sandwich that’s so simple yet delivers so much.