Giada’s Unusual Addition to Grilled Cheese Really Works
You’re going to be transported to Italy in one bite.
When Giada was planning her Taste of Capri menu for Giada Entertains, she added a sophisticated take on a grilled cheese sandwich to her lemon-filled menu. "There are many things I love about Capri," Giada says of the little island off the coast of Naples, "but one of my favorite things is all the lemons ... In Capri they try to use lemons in everything, and what I love about a grilled cheese is that cheesy, melty texture, but it tastes so much better and even lighter when you give it a little punch of citrus.”
To make the Lemon Grilled Cheese, Giada takes a serrated knife and thinly slices lemons, skins and all, into fourths and tosses them with a little bit sugar. “Sometimes the lemons aren’t as sweet as you’d like them to be and the sugar enhances it,” she explains.
Once her little lemon slices are marinating, she slices fresh mozzarella. She takes sourdough bread and uses softened butter to coat the outside of the bread. “The trick to great grilled cheese is smearing butter on the outside of the bread,” says Giada. “That way you get a nice golden tan on the outside of the bread. Then take some Parmesan and make the Parmesan stick to the butter so you get a cheesy, buttery crust on the outside of the bread.”
Next, add a layer of mozzarella, a layer of lemons and another layer of mozzarella, “that way the mozzarella sticks to the bread, so when you cut into it, it all stays together.”
Finally, cook the sandwiches in a pan until a light, golden brown. Pair the grilled cheese with her lemon-filled Taste of Capri menu, or just have it its own with a glass of prosecco. Saluti!
Get more ideas and recipes for amazing parties on Giada Entertains, Sundays at 11:30a|10:30c and watch her host Winner Cake All, Mondays at 10|9c.
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