Description
Last weekend we went to visit my mother in Bemus Point. She had me try this new brand of ricotta cheese that she bought. It was so good, I just wanted to drizzle some honey on it and I could have eaten the whole tub. She bought one for me to bring home and I wondered, hmmm… what can I do with this. Well, I decided to make grilled cheese sandwiches. Of course eggplant goes great with ricotta so why not make grilled cheese with eggplant. And if I am going with this Italian theme, bring on the fontina!
Ingredients
- 1 loaf Italian bread
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 8 leaves fresh basil
- 16 slices fontina cheese
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, or to taste
Instructions
- Slice Italian bread info 8 thick slices. Slice each tomato into 4 slices.
- Remove some of the skin from the eggplant
- leaving the rest of the skin on for a striped look. Slice the eggplant into eight 1/2-inch rounds.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Season eggplant with salt and pepper; cook until soft
- about 5 minutes per side. Watch that it does not burn. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Spread ricotta over 4 slices of bread. Top each with 2 eggplant slices and 2 tomato slices. Season tomatoes with salt and pepper. Tear 2 basil leaves over each sandwich. Add 4 slices of fontina cheese. Spread butter over the remaining slices of bread and place over the cheese
- buttered sides up.
- Melt remaining butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sandwiches to the skillet with the dry side down. Cover with a piece of foil and place a heavy pan on top. Toast sandwiches for 3 to 4 minutes. Flip over and cover again. Cook until cheese is melted
- 3 to 4 minutes more.
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 40 mins
Servings: 4