These are the ultimate elegant snack that makes grilled cheese sammies into performance art. The whole game here is the choice of mozzarella, so do not make these unless you can find, if not real mozzarella from Campania, a comparable high-quality mozzarella di bufala. Or, totally change the recipe and use another great cheese, like Taleggio or even a fine American Cheddar.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh buffalo mozzarella, cut into 4 equal pieces about 3 inches by 4 inches
- Eight ½-inch-thick slices firm white sandwich bread
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- A grating of nutmeg
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Preparations
- 1. Place the mozzarella on 4 slices of the bread. Cover with the 4 remaining slices to form sandwiches. Trim the crusts off to make perfect 4-inch squares.
- 2. In a wide shallow bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the cream, thyme leaves, salt, and nutmeg and whisk until well blended.
- 3. In a 10- to 12-inch nonstick sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat until smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter and cook until the sizzling subsides. Dip 2 of the sandwiches into the egg mixture, turning to coat, place in the pan, and cook until golden brown on first side, about 2 minutes. Flip over and brown on the other side. Transfer the sandwiches to individual plates and repeat the process with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon butter, and 2 sandwiches. Cut in half, and serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings
© 2005 Mario Batali from Molto Italiano
Photograph © Beatriz Da Costa
