How To Make Grilled Cheese With Parmesan Crust

It is hard to mess with a classic. Grilled cheese sandwiches are one such classic that, in their classic state, are practically perfect. The buttery, crunchy bread encasing melted, gooey, flavorful cheese is not to be messed with, but rather built upon if we can. To add more cheesey goodness to a grilled cheese sandwich is a noble pursuit as is adding more crunch. One can easily achieve this if one knows How To Make Grilled Cheese with a Parmesan Crust. Difficult? No. A huge surprise? Not really. Delicious? Absolutely.

How To Make Grilled Cheese With Parmesan Crust – The Name

To be as honest as we can about this sandwich, we should probably discuss the name. To be fair, it is really a griddled cheese sandwich not a grilled cheese sandwich. The rules of SEO forbid me from calling this “How To Make Griddled Cheese With Parmesan Crust” because it would never be found so “How To Make Grilled Cheese With Parmesan Crust” it is. There really is no grilling. Most make them in a sauté pan so even using griddled as a descriptor is sort of a stretch, but I digress.

How To Make Grilled Cheese With Parmesan Crust – The Sandwich

A great grilled cheese sandwich starts with your favorite bread. I like a crusty sourdough bread or a flavorful rye. The bread is slathered with butter which will facilitate the bread turning into golden brown, crunchy heaven on a plate. Of course, this is only the beginning. The success of a grilled cheese sandwich does depend a lot on the cheese. A few slices of American can work, although we can stretch ourselves. A nice sharp aged gouda or gruyere is a great choice, as is a deeply flavorful cheddar. There is a trade off to be aware of though. The older the cheese, the less melty it will become. So, which is it – more flavor or more melty? I say more flavor. Sure, melty gooey is fun, but while textures are important, flavor is king. Go sharp or go home.

How To Make Grilled Cheese With Parmesan Crust – The Other Crust

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The first crust is the one that the butter facilitates making. The buttery, golden brown crust that is formed when the bread is heated in the pan. We can add another crust without much effort. Simply dredging the buttered sides of the sandwich (the outside top and bottom of the bread) in a plate of parmesan then cooking them will add a cheese crust. This will bring more cheesiness and the magical umami to the sandwich. The use of a parmesan crust makes the choice of using a sharp cheese even more important. Although parmesan has great flavor when crusted, you still want a cheese that is not overpowered by the parmesan so a sharp cheese is best.

The parmesan will also help bring out other flavors if they are included in the grilled cheese sandwich. A few slices of tomato, a slice of bacon, or a few leaves of basil will all be enhanced with a parmesan crust.

How To Make Grilled Cheese With Parmesan Crust – The Grilling or Griddleing or Whatever

The cooking of the sandwich does not really change. Cooking the sandwich over medium heat or slightly lower will cook the cheese on the outside slowly enough to allow the cheese on the inside to melt. It may be obvious, but I will state it anyway. You don’t want to burn that outside cheese crust. I am not saying a darker golden brown isn’t good. I like things toasted a little darker, but burnt? Well that just won’t be nice.

To help you take your grilled cheese to he next level the ‘How To Make Grilled Cheese With Parmesan Crust’
video is below. The full recipe follows.

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