Grilled Cheese and Caprese on Focaccia

I can’t stand bad tomatoes. You know the ones I’m talking about: available year-round out of California, always the same quality no matter what the season. Available on salads everywhere, used simply to add color because the only favor they can contribute is somewhat rancid in nature. It’s no wonder some people don’t like tomatoes, if those are the only tomatoes they’ve been exposed to. The state of our agriculture would be improved tenfold if people didn’t have it in their fool heads that tomatoes are a right, not a privilege.

But enough of the rant, I’m no muckraker. The solution is obvious: plant a few fun varieties of tomatoes in your backyard and experience the harvest for yourself.
grilled cheese and capreseCaprese is a classic Italian salad consisting of fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and fresh mozzarella. It makes a wonderful side dish, but it’s not quite substantial enough for a full meal. I layered mine inside a generous cut of focaccia bread with Allegheny Valley Smoked Provolone and Dubliner Irish Cheddar. I grilled the sandwich in a cast iron pan and pressed it down with a couple more cast iron pans stacked on top of it in order to help the heat penetrate the bread. I ate a bit more of the salad on the side, glad to enjoy the mingled flavors of five different breeds of heirloom fruit.

Pressing a sandwich down with a weight on top when you’re grilling it is an easy way to help the cheese melt uniformly throughout. If your centermost cheese still hasn’t melted when your bread is done (the most likely reason for which would be that you have your heat too high and it’s toasting the bread before heat has had a chance to transfer through the layers), finish the sandwich in your toaster oven, set to 350 F, for 8-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

2 Responses to “Grilled Cheese and Caprese on Focaccia”

  1. Cortney Says:

    Yum for good tomatoes. If you haven’t seen it already, I think you’d be interested in this week’s The Nation: it’s all about food! There are a number of great essays by some great folks, including Wendell Berry and Michael Pollan.

  2. Jim Says:

    While you’re on the tomato theme, how about a gazpacho recipe?

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