Add an Italian twist to your classic grilled cheese sandwich with this quick and easy recipe. With gooey Italian cheeses, olive oil, and good Italian bread, this grilled cheese will become your new favorite comfort food.
Why You Will Love This Italian Style Grilled Cheese!
You may have heard of mozzarella in carrozza which is a classic Italian grilled cheese sandwich that is dipped in an egg batter then fried but these sandwiches are an Italian-American twist on classic American grilled cheese. These are made with sliced Italian bread, olive oil for the perfect crust, and fontina and mozzarella for total gooey melty cheese goodness! They are so much easier than the version you find in Italy.
I love enjoying these sandwiches just as is, with Italian tomato soup, or with sliced tomatoes inside of them. Skip ordering out and make these easy sandwiches instead.
What You Will Need
- Sliced Italian Bread: I like to buy this in the bakery section of my grocery store.
- Block mozzarella: I like to buy a block of mozzarella and shred it myself on the coarse side of a cheese grater.
- Fontina cheese: I also buy a block of this cheese and shred it on the coarse side of a cheese grater.
- Olive oil: This replaces butter in traditional grilled cheese sandwiches and gives the bread an amazing crunchy crust and beautiful golden brown color. You can use any olive oil for this recipe (extra virgin olive oil or light olive oil).
- Kosher salt: For flavor.
How to Make Italian Grilled Cheese
- Shred the cheese: Shred both the mozzarella and fontina cheese. Once it is shredded, sprinkle the top with some kosher salt and toss it around.
- Heat a large heavy bottom pan: You start by preheating a large heavy bottom pan. Add olive oil to the pan then the bread, cheese and more bread.
- Cook the first side: Cook the grilled cheese until it is nice and crisp.
- Flip the sandwich: Flip the sandwiches, add a little more olive oil and rub the sandwiches around in it and cook the other side until it crisps up the same way. When they are done, cut the grilled cheese sandwiches in half.
Tips
- Use good quality Italian bread: Ciabatta bread, Italian boule sliced up, or if you are in a pinch, a good sliced country bread will work.
- Shred your own cheese for the best grilled cheese: Already shredded cheese comes with anti-caking agents on them that prevent the cheese from being perfectly gooey when melted. I like to buy blocks of cheese and shred it myself.
- Cook with a heavy bottom pan: If you want a really crispy exterior, try to use a heavy bottom pan. If you do not have these, just make sure to cook them until they are once and golden brown.
- Add more cheese: If you like lots of cheese add more to the mix. You can also add other creamy Italian cheeses to this.
More Cheesy Italian Recipes You Will Love!
Quick And Easy Italian Grilled Cheese Recipe
Add an Italian twist to your classic grilled cheese sandwich with this quick and easy recipe. With gooey Italian cheeses, olive oil, and good Italian bread, this grilled cheese will become your new favorite comfort food.
Ingredients
- 4 slices Sliced Italian bread or any sliced bread
- 4 ounces Mozzarella shredded
- 4 ounces Fontina shredded
- ⅛ cup olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt divided
Instructions
- Shred the cheese then sprinkle on ½ of your salt on to the cheese and mix well.4 ounces Mozzarella, 4 ounces Fontina, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Preheat a large heavy bottom pan over medium heat for a few minutes.
- Add half of the olive oil to the pan then add 2 slices of bread to the pan.4 slices Sliced Italian bread, ⅛ cup olive oil
- Add cheese evenly to the sandwiches/
- Top with more bread. and cook until the bread is nice and golden brown (use a spatula to lift the sandwiches and check them.)
- Flip the sandwiches then add remaining olive oil and move the sandwiches around in the oil and cook the other side until golden brown.
- Place cooked grilled cheese sandwiches on a cutting board and cut in half.
Nutrition
Calories: 732kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 31gFat: 57gSaturated Fat: 27gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 21gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 103mgSodium: 1289mgPotassium: 189mgFiber: 1gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 861IUCalcium: 705mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Meg says
Thank you for sharing this recipe