Grilled cheese sandwich

Name: Grilled cheese sandwich
Cook time: 14 min
Total time: 14 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 slices Bread; 30 g Butter; 120 g Cheddar Cheese

Sándwich de queso a la plancha

Easy

Contains allergens

Cereales con glutenLeche

Author: Equipo Cocinoa
Preparation time: 14 min
Servings: 2

Summary

The American grilled cheese: sandwich bread buttered on the outside and slowly browned in a frying pan until crisp, with the cheese completely melted inside. Ready in ten minutes.

Ingredients

2 servings

4 slices Bread (sandwich bread, 1 to 1.5 cm thick)
30 g Butter (softened, at room temperature)
120 g Cheddar Cheese (coarsely grated, on its own or mixed with another good melting cheese)

Instructions

Take the butter out of the fridge a while ahead so it softens. Grate the cheese on the coarse side of the grater.
3 min
Spread one side of each slice of bread with a thin layer of butter, right to the edges.
2 min
Place two slices in a large frying pan, buttered side down, scatter the cheese over them, keeping it away from the edges, and top with the other two slices, buttered side up.
1 min
Turn the heat to medium-low and cook with the lid on, pressing down lightly with a spatula now and then, until the underside is golden and crisp.
4 min
Carefully turn the sandwiches over and cook the other side, uncovered, until golden and the cheese starts to ooze out at the edges.
3 min
Leave them for a minute so the cheese settles slightly, cut them diagonally and serve at once.
1 min

Notes

The grilled cheese took off in the United States in the 1920s and 30s, when sliced bread and processed cheese reached every larder, and it is still the go-to quick lunch or supper, often with a bowl of tomato soup for dunking. The secret is medium-low heat: on high heat the bread burns before the cheese melts. The butter goes on the outside, not the inside, and should be soft enough to spread without tearing the bread; a popular trick is to spread the outside with a thin layer of mayonnaise, which browns evenly and is less likely to burn. Grating the cheese rather than using thick slices helps it melt sooner and more evenly. Cheddar brings the flavour; mixed with a good melting cheese such as mozzarella, Gouda or Emmental it becomes stretchier. Covering the pan for the first few minutes helps the cheese melt. Make it just before eating: it doesn't keep, and the microwave makes the bread soggy; if you must reheat it, do so in a frying pan over low heat. For a vegetarian version, check that the cheese is made with microbial or vegetable rennet.