Next-level dinner

While pondering what to make for dinner tonight, I was struck with a rather brilliant idea. I needed to figure something out to make that would satisfy my hungry man (a mid-30 year old Italian with a very hearty appetite after a long day at work), be yummy enough that we would both love it, yet healthy enough to make the nutritionist in me happy. I wanted flavour, I know that we both usually want cheese, Alex always wants meat, and I always want vegetables.

Does such a dish exist? Why yes, yes it does. It's so simple too... grilled cheese.

And that was when I realized that despite its ease of creation and affordability, we rarely actually make grilled cheese! I can’t figure out why we rarely make this too, as I would dare say that I have a pretty hearty love of grilled cheese! And so, the ponder as to “what might make this grilled cheese tonight next level enough for us…?” began.

There were many ideas (veggies, herbs, spices and proteins to possibly add), but the final choices are I think just about perfect. For my man, ALL of the meats! Plus roasted garlic, some kind of an aioli sauce and maybe a bit of greens for flavour and fibre. He gets spicy jalapeno cheese and maybe a bit of cheddar. For me, roasted zucchini and eggplant, roasted garlic, homemade rosemary hummus and feta cheese. Two completely different takes on what “just another grilled cheese sandwich” has the potential to become.

You can use literally anything that you can dream up to make this recipe your own though – any weird and wonderful fruit or veggie (why not jackfruit “pulled pork”, or dragon fruit, raspberry and raw honey?). Any combination of herbs (forget boring, predictable oregano and basil… try maybe a cucumber-based grilled cheese with dill? How about a sweet potato and cumin option?). The possibilities are endless!

Try making yourself one of these and fulfill your childhood dreams, from back in the days when you WEREN’T allowed to make dinner out of a grilled Nutella and marshmallow sandwich… This version in this recipe is one of my favourites though. If you can get your hands on some boar sausage, definitely try it! It’s delicious! But any good-quality pork sausage would work just as well. Try roasting the vegetables before you add them to your sandwich to bring an extra added layer of smoky flavour to the dish.

Epic Grilled Cheese:

• 1 tbsp. olive oil

• 1 clove of garlic

• 100 ml red wine

• 400g tinned tomatoes

• 100g mozzarella, grated

• 1 ball of fresh buffalo mozzarella

• Fresh basil sprigs

• 50g wild boar sausage (or pork sausage)

• 1 tbsp. butter

• Freshly baked sourdough bread

• Salt and freshly ground pepper

1) Set a deep skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. Finely dice the garlic and add to the oil in the pan. When it becomes fragrant, add the tomatoes and wine. Bring to a low simmer and allow to cook for about 9 to 11 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and set aside

2) Slice two thick slices of bread and cover both sides of each piece with butter. Lightly spread the tomato sauce on both slices

3) Sprinkle one slice with grated mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella, basil and sliced sausage. Top with some more grated mozzarella, then add the second slice of bread

4) Melt some butter in a skillet and add about ¼ cup grated mozzarella cheese in a small pile. Carefully place the sandwich into a hot skillet on top of the cheese. Apply pressure to the sandwich as you grill for 2 to 3 minutes. Once the first side is ALMOST cooked to your liking, sprinkle ¼ cup of grated cheese onto the top of the sandwich and wait for about 20 seconds for it to start getting melty, then carefully flip it over to cook the other side

5) Serve immediately