TFF: Mozzarella Grilled Sandwich

For 69 cents at your grocery store you can get more parsley than I think any person could actually use in regular home cooking. If you opened my fridge right now you’d find this big green thing almost as big as one of the little bushes in my front yard. Every time I buy parsley I always pick it up and think “What the heck am I going to do with all this?”.

I had a lot of leftover basil from last week’s TFF as well as parsley from Barefoot Bloggers. I was determined to make a dent in both supplies by using them in other recipes instead of eventually throwing it all out. I did a search on foodnetwork.com for “Tyler and Pesto” and it came up with these Mozzarella Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. I recognized these from one of his books as well as from a few TFF members that recently made them. It was a go.

The sandwiches have a layer of pesto, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese between slices of sourdough bread. I used fresh bocconcini mozzarella packed in water which saved me about five dollars.  I don’t have a cast iron skillet or panini press so I just broke out the trusty George Foreman that I’ve had FOREVER instead. It worked great, you can always count on the Foreman to get things done.  

We really enjoyed these.  We each ate two and I wanted to eat about ten more. I thought about them later that night, when I woke up in the middle of the night, when I got up in the morning and when I was eating something else for lunch later that day. I really hate when that happens, but these had some sort of hold over me. They reminded me of something you could get at Panera but for a fraction of the cost. At times though I thought maybe some bites lacked a little bit of a “punch” but I couldn’t pinpoint what I thought should be added flavor wise. The boyfriend said red onion. Maybe, but pesto AND red onion?? Colgate and Scope would have their work cut out for them! I would make these again though without a doubt. Thanks to Tyler for another great recipe to add to my list of regulars, and thanks to my Foreman grill for “knocking out the fat” with me since 1995.

The recipe online differs slightly from the book. I used the online version.

Tyler Florence’s Mozzarella Grilled Cheese
Show: Tyler’s Ultimate Episode: Ultimate Rainy Day
Yield: 2 sandwiches

Ingredients
4 slices thick-cut sourdough bread
1 ball (1 pound) fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 plum tomatoes, cut into thick slices
1 cup fresh basil pesto, recipe follows
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil

Basil pesto:
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/2 cup Parmesan or Romano
2 garlic cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Click here for directions!

Mozzarella Grilled Cheese is my ninth post for Tyler Florence Fridays, a group with the freedom to make any recipe of Tyler’s that they choose and then share their experiences every Friday.

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