Yesterday I made homemade Tomato Soup.  Nothing pairs better with Tomato Soup than a grilled cheese.  I wanted to create the ultimate grilled cheese.  To do that I had to take a trip to the supermarket.  I wanted a nice thick crust so I started with a Rustic Wheat Bread.  Hand sliced to perfection.  Then I picked up the only ripe tomato available in all of DC.  Finally I spent a little time in the cheese department.  The base was Mozzarella.  Great flavor and melts wonderfully.  Next came the nice cured Manchego cheese.  This sheep’s milk cheese melts great when shredded and has an amazing creamy texture and a slight salty taste.  Perfect for a grilled cheese.  Finally came the Gruyere.  A cow’s milk cheese that has a great texture and flavor that works well with the other cheeses used in this Ultimate Grilled Cheese.

Grilled Cheese

I love grilled cheese and this is the best I have had.

Ultimate Grilled Cheese

• Rustic Wheat Bread
• Butter – (Preferably Spreadable)
• Manchego Cheese – shredded
• Gruyere Cheese – shredded
• Mozzarella Cheese – shredded or in slices
• 1 tomato – sliced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Preheat a cast iron skillet or heavy bottom oven safe skillet over medium heat.

Slice the loaf of bread into 3/4 inch slices.  Next butter one side of each of the slices.

Butter the bread. The more even the butter the better the browning

Top the non-buttered side of one of the slices with the mozzarella cheese.  Then layer a couple of slices of tomato onto the bread.

Mozzarella and Tomato is a killer combination

Place the slice of bread, buttered side down onto the preheated skillet.  Then top the tomato with the Manchego  and Gruyere cheeses.  This will make it so that you don’t waste too much cheese bringing the sandwich to the skillet.

Top the bread with the shredded cheese after it is in the skillet

Finally top the sandwich with the other half of the bread.  Making sure that the buttered side is up.

Top with the other half of the bread

Cook for 5-6 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown.  When it is golden flip the sandwich and place the skillet in the oven.  The heavy bottom skillet will retain the heat and will brown the bottom of the sandwich.  The oven will heat the rest of the ingredients making sure that the cheese in the center is melted and warmed.  Nothing is worse than a grilled cheese with un-melted cheese.

Flip when golden brown

Cut in half and serve.  This is the perfect sandwich to eat with a nice bowl of tomato soup.

Grilled cheese with tomato soup

Enjoy….