Recipe: Possibly the Best Grilled Cheese You’ll Ever Have, by Tom Colicchio

Chef, restaurateur and TV cooking judge Tom Colicchio offers “Sunday Morning” viewers a recipe from his latest book, “Why I Cook,” what he calls Possibly the Best Grilled Cheese You’ll Ever Have. He writes:

“Like many other dads, I make a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches for the kids. This one started as a way to utilize the mozzarella from Lombardi’s Love Lane Market, an Italian deli in Mattituck that makes the world’s best fresh mozz. Paired with ‘nduja, a peppery spreadable Italian sausage, the grilled cheese essentially becomes a spicy pizza. It’s decadent for sure, but the spice of the ‘nduja cuts through the richness of the mozzarella. As always, but here especially, low and slow heat is important. It’s the key to developing a nice crust on the bread, while also melting the cheese.”

Possibly the Best Grilled Cheese You’ll Ever Have
By Tom Colicchio
Makes 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ pound fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
4 thick slices peasant bread (see Note)
3 ounces soft ‘nduja
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Instructions:

Pour 1 tablespoon of the olive oil into a heavy-bottomed skillet and set over medium-low heat.

Layer the mozzarella slices on 2 pieces of the bread. Layer the ‘nduja on the other 2 slices of bread.

Add 1 slice of mozzarella bread and 1 slice of ‘nduja bread open face to the pan. Add 2 tablespoons butter to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes. Cover the pan and cook (still open face) for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Remove the hot melted slices from the pan and immediately flip them together to make a sandwich. Slice the sandwich in half crosswise.

Wipe the pan clean and repeat the process to make the second sandwich and serve immediately.

Note:

Any bread will do, but I prefer one without a heavy sourdough flavor.

       
From “Why I Cook” by Tom Colicchio. Copyright © 2024 by Tom Colicchio. Reprinted by permission of Artisan, an imprint of Hachette Book Group. All rights reserved.

     
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