Last night for date night, Mr. Wonderful and I went out to the patio grill like we love to do on our nights together.

The herb garden is beginning to take off, and the basil needed to be picked before it flowered.

We took my cast iron grill with us.

And we made grilled cheese sandwiches. 

I am not a huge grilled cheese fan.  Typical fare consists of plastic-wrapped processed cheese on plain, white sandwich bread.  This may have appealed to me as a kid, but now, I wanted a little something fancier, and less …well….unprocessed cheese-like.

Enter the Caprese Grilled-Cheese Sandwich.

It’s really simple to assemble.  You only need a few things. 

Melt a half of a stick of butter and grab a basting or pastry brush.  Add a thinly-sliced loaf of french bread, some really good sliced tomatoes, one ball of sliced ,fresh mozerella cheese, some fresh basil leaves and basil pesto.  You can buy your pesto, or use my recipe to make your own.

Oh yes, and grab some salt and pepper to season up the tomatoes.  Even if I’m putting them on a salad, I always season my tomatoes to make them extra delicious.

I stacked all of this up on a tray and took it outside.

We used our cast iron skillet for this on the grill, but you could just do this inside on your stove if you wanted.  I just love the way a cast-iron pan grills a sandwich. You should have your heat on medium to medium -low because you don’t want burnt bread and unmelted cheese. 

Start by brushing 4 pieces of the bread on one side only with the melted butter.   Place them buttered side down in your skillet.  Four should fit perfectly.

Now (moving quickly!), layer on some of your sliced cheese.

Mr. Wonderful was being stingy so I added more.  We ended up using an entire 8 ounce package.

Now layer two sliced tomatoes onto each piece.  Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the tomatoes.

Then add some fresh basil leaves.

Take your other four slices of bread, and spread them generously with basil pesto.

Lay them (pesto side down) on top of your sandwiches, and brush the top side of them with the melted butter. 

Then flip them over carefully.

I usually find the second side of a sandwich finishes faster than the first, so check them after 30 seconds or so.  You’re looking for brown and golden and crispy, not soggy and not black.  That’s why we used melted butter.  It crisps better than cold butter and won’t leave your bread soggy.

When they’re done on the second side, remove them quickly to a platter.

The outside is what grilled cheese should be, buttery, crisp and golden- brown.  But the inside …

Can I just show you the inside of one of these babies?

Gooey, fresh mozerella, red-ripe tomatoes, oozing with warmed basil pesto?

This is what I called a grilled cheese sandwich.

Katie’s Printable Recipe- Caprese Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Katie's love of cooking and eating good food has led her down a path of fun filled friend and family gatherings around the kitchen. She is an Oklahoma Food blogger, TV food personality for Freedom43tv, author of Food Lovers's Guide to Oklahoma and lover of all all the good things of life!

DishinandDishes

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