I’ve mentioned in our About Us section that the first time Tory and I cooked together it was to make a grilled cheese. When Tory was in high school and I was home from college we were home alone, she was hungry. She got this idea in her head that I would make her something to eat just the way that mom would. Well it turned out she was wrong. Instead I decided to teach her how to make a grilled cheese. That led to more teaching, phone calls in the grocery store when she went to college and eventually collaboration as Tory began to experiment and learn to cook things I hadn’t ever tried.
The grilled cheese I’m making today is a little bit more of an adult grilled cheese than the plain old American cheese (yes, the individual slices in the plastic wrap) grilled cheese we first made together.
I first made this recipe a few years ago after seeing Jeff Mauro make this on his show The Sandwich King. It happened to be Lent and I was looking for a new meatless meal for Friday anyway. These sandwiches seemed a little heartier and more flavorful than your typical grilled cheese.
Take flavorful, savory, sweet caramelized onion, melted Gruyere cheese and it’s like French onion soup in a sandwich. The crust is even like the croutons that are soaked in the middle of the soup.
Here’s what you need:
You’re going to need some caramelized onions so start with those. If you don’t know how – check out my post on How To: Make Caramelized Onions. This does take a little bit of time so plan ahead or make the caramelized onions before hand – they keep really well in the fridge. The only tweak you’ll want to make to my normal recipe is to stir a little chopped fresh thyme – about a tablespoon or so into the caramelized onions. Jeff Mauro uses sherry in his caramelized onions, I didn’t before I didn’t have any. I love the earthy and fresh flavor that thyme adds to this grilled cheese.
Start making the grilled cheese the way you would make any grilled cheese, by buttering one side of each piece of bread.
Top the bread (on the non-buttered side) evenly with some sliced Gruyere cheese.
Now add a generous helping of the caramelized onions. Top with the other piece of bread with the buttered side up.
Add the grilled cheese to a pan that’s been preheated over medium-low heat. You want to give the cheese time to melt before the bread gets to dark.
Now here’s a trick, I learned from the sandwich king. Cover the pan – this keeps the heat in and helps the melt.
After a couple minutes check the bread and If it’s a nice golden brown flip the sandwich over.
Continue cooking another couple minutes until the other side is just as golden. Pay attention to it because the time will vary depending on how hot you have your stove set.
This grilled cheese doesn’t even need ketchup (GASP!) it gets so much flavor from the caramelized onions! I hope my mom and all my Forsman relatives can forgive me for that last statement.
- 1-1/2 cup caramelized onions (from 2 large onions)
- 1 T minced fresh thyme
- Butter
- Sourdough bread, 6 slices
- Gruyere cheese, sliced
- Combine the caramelized onions and thyme.
- Butter one side of each slice of bread.
- Top the non-buttered side evenly with gruyere cheese and about a ½ cup of caramelized onions (depending on the size of your sourdough – these are pretty big pieces) use a little more or less. Top with another slice of bread, buttered side up.
- Place in a pan that’s been preheating over medium-low heat. Cover and cook for a couple minutes until the bread is toasty and golden brown. Flip over and continue cooking until the second side is golden.
- Serve immediately while the cheese is still warm and gooey.
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