Greek Grilled Cheese

Is April flying by for anyone else? Because it’s already the 19th and I want to know what y’all did with the first 2.5 weeks of the month. Not that I’m complaining; I mean, I do have an awful lot to look forward to. BUT, if you want any month to last, it’s gotta be April. Simply because it’s Grilled Cheese Month. I obviously wasn’t about to let April pass without another grilled cheese on the menu. And since I’m all about the quick and simple dinners these days, Grilled Cheese Month couldn’t have come at a better time. Not that I don’t enjoy a good grilled cheese every single month of the year…

This one ties in my love for Greek salad and more specifically, FETA CHEESE. Which is definitely in my top 5 cheeses. I’ve never had a feta grilled cheese and it doesn’t seem to be such a common thing, probably because feta doesn’t get all melty and ooey-gooey. But don’t discriminate because of it. This grilled cheese was honestly one of the best I’ve had. And that’s saying a lot a lot. I added a nice roasted red pepper spread to the Greek Grilled Cheese and it was definitely the perfect touch.

Greek Grilled Cheese (makes 2):
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• 2 T olive oil, divided
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 6 oz. roasted red peppers, drained if in water
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 T lemon juice
• 4 slices good bread
• 2 T butter
• 4 oz. feta cheese
• 1-2 tomatoes, sliced
• 1 C baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 C kalamata olives, sliced

 

Start by pouring a little olive oil into a frying pan and heating over medium heat. Add red onion and sauté until it’s a bit caramelized… or however you like it.

While the onion is sautéing, add the roasted red peppers, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil to your blender.

Blend until smooth. My spread was a little watery because I didn’t drain the water from my peppers first. But no big deal! Next time, I’ll probably drain them and put them on a paper towel for a bit before blending.

Slice tomatoes, chop olives, and slice feta cheese. Mmm I love Greek food so much!

Heat a griddle or hot surface over medium-low heat. Butter one side of all four pieces of your bread. Set bread on griddle, butter side down. On two slices of the bread, spread the roasted red pepper spread. On the other, layer feta cheese, tomato, spinach, olives, and onions.

It was at this point, I absolutely knew this grilled cheese was going to be heavenly.

Place red pepper spread bread on top of other slice of bread and press down. Cook until bread is nice and browned, about 1 minute, and then flip.

Flipping this fully was the toughest part about this whole recipe. There was such much going on inside the sandwich and since the cheese wasn’t super melty, it was tough to hold it all together.

But I managed OK.

And thank goodness because I would have been really sad if I had to pass up on this grilled cheese due to flipping disaster.

The best part of this? I can’t name one. So, please don’t make me. I honestly cannot do it. I love everything about this.

But seriously, one of the keys here is to get some good bread. After all, this is A LOT of sandwich. And if you try to squeeze all this goodness between two little wimpy slices of bread, you likely won’t have great success. When buttered, this bread grilled up reallyyy nicely, held up incredible well, and had a beautiful crispy crunch to it.

The only thing missing from this Greek Grilled Cheese was cucumbers. Cucumbers are always a must in a Greek salad, but I just couldn’t envision them on this sandwich. But don’t worry because I had some on the side.

Another grilled cheese that WILL be made again.

And now I’m off to get through a couple more days of work before WEDDING SHOWER weekend!! I can’t wait to see all my family traveling here to see me. And I’m also quite curious to see what my mom and bridesmaids have been planning. I’ve been totally left in the dark, but I do know for sure that it’s going to be a fabulous weekend!

So, have you made any grilled cheeses for grilled cheese month?

[Sues]