Did you know that April is National Grilled Cheese Month? I didn’t until I started seeing dozens of grilled cheese recipes popping up on food blogs all across the internet. So, of course, I had to jump right into that celebration!
I mean, seriously, who doesn’t love a great grilled cheese sandwich? All that warm, melty, gooey cheese and crispy, buttery bread. Yum. But I didn’t want to do just any old grilled cheese. It had to be something really special.
I kept thinking about ways to put a new twist on the classic grilled cheese. I had loads of ideas but this one just kept coming back to mind. A grilled cheese with all the things we love about our favorite pizza. Tons of pepperoni with lots of mozzarella and black olives. Exactly the way we like our pizzas around here. And, for a little something extra, I made up a compound butter with Parmesan and oregano for the grilling.
Serve these pepperoni pizza grilled cheese sandwiches with a side salad and you have a complete meal. I think you’re really going to like this one!
I always start my grilled cheese sandwiches on the stove top but finish them in the oven. I’ve always had a tendency to get the bread too brown before the cheese really melts. Using this method I can grill the bread first and then pop the skillet into the oven to finish melting the cheese. So, start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Then make your compound butter.
Combine the softened butter, Parmesan cheese, and oregano in a small bowl. Stir together until thoroughly combined. Set the butter aside for now.
For these sandwiches, I used a hearty Italian whole grain bread and a firm mozzarella. I thought a fresh mozzarella would be too wet. The firmer, drier mozzarella was a good choice.
Assemble your sandwiches – Spoon a little pizza sauce on both sides of the bread. Top with slices of mozzarella, black olives, and as much pepperoni as you want! I chose a very thinly sliced pepperoni from the deli counter and really piled it up on the sandwiches.
Add the top slice of bread and generously slather it with the compound butter.
Place the sandwiches buttered side down in a skillet (I used cast-iron) over medium heat. Cook until the bread is lightly toasted. While the first side toasts, butter the second side. Flip the sandwiches and cook the second side. Transfer the skillet to the oven to finish cooking. Watch carefully and remove when the cheese begins to melt. It takes about 5 to 6 minutes.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 4 tblsp. softened butter
- 2-3 tblsp. grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- dash of salt
- Bread of your choice
- Prepared pizza sauce
- Sliced or grated mozzarella cheese
- Sliced black olives
- Thinly sliced pepperoni
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients for the compound butter in a small bowl. Stir until thoroughly combined.
- Assemble the sandwiches: For each sandwich, spread a small amount of pizza sauce on the surface of two slices of bread. On the bottom slice, add the mozzarella cheese, black olives, and pepperoni. Top with second slice of bread.
- Spread the top of the assembled sandwiches with a generous amount of compound butter. Place the sandwiches, buttered side down in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until bread is nicely grilled. While the first side is grilling, butter the second side of the sandwich. Turn sandwiches over and cook until the second side is toasted.
- Place skillet with sandwiches in preheated oven for 5-6 minutes or until the cheese is melted.Remove from oven and serve immediately.
Other posts about Grilled Cheese Month you might enjoy from around the internet:
- 7 Recipes for Grilled Cheese Month from Shine Yahoo!
- Happy Grilled Cheese Month from Devour the Blog
- National Grilled Cheese Month Recipe Contest from Wisconsin Cheese Talk blog
- Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches from Woman’s Day magazine
What I was cooking…
- One year ago: Caramel Pecan Brownies
- Two years ago: Dutch Baby
- Three years ago: Salsa Chicken
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I can always eat a grilled cheese like this. Yum!
Want it!!!
Miss P
These were really very, very good. You should try them!
Hi Lana, I just came from Triber and saw your post. I’ve been looking for a twist on grilled cheese and I think this is just what I’m looking for. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Joanne
You’re welcome! Enjoy!
Mmm, I love grilled cheese! I’ve never thought about putting pepperoni on it, but this sounds amazing! Pizza grilled cheese…I can get behind that.
I really like the idea of the compound butter-I’ve made zillions of grilled cheese, but that never occurred to me. Great idea! Oh, and pepperoni and mozz are two of my favorite food groups.
What a fantastic way to enjoy grilled cheese! This is so creative, Lana. Thanks for sharing!
Hubba Hubba!
I am printing out this recipe for my boys to make while I am gone – they love grilled cheese and will absolutely adore this sandwich!! Fabulous idea Lana!!
Hope they like it, Nancy! We really loved it. Tastes just like pepperoni pizza so what’s not to like, right :-)
I just made this grilled cheese the other day and the family loved it! Thanks for sharing! I used this great recipe for the crazy cooking challenge for May at Moms Crazy Cooking @ http://momscrazycooking.blogspot.com/
I, too, used this recipe as the basis for the sandwich I made for the May Crazy Cooking Challenge- -http://momscrazycooking.blogspot.com/. I really love your idea for finishing these up in the oven. You have some wonderful sounding recipes here, and I am now following by email. Thanks for sharing.