Inside Out Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

It was one of those moments where you think the universe is telling you to do something!  I had on deck for this week, and indeed scheduled for today, this grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a mustard/ apricot jam dipping sauce that I saw on an article of grown up grilled cheeses on Yahoo. Yesterday, I got my latest issue of Food and Wine, and under the heading '7 minute dinners' here was this recipe for the inside out grilled ham and cheese. It also had an apricot/mustard sauce but the main difference was that you press a layer of grated Parmesan cheese in to the buttered bread before grilling. Brilliant!  Genius!  The result, even without all the other tasty ingredients, was this crispy perfect, ultra thin Parmesan frico. Now figure in the apricot/Dijon sauce and the pickles and you have one heck of an awesome sandwich. I don't know why I don't want to give it a 5 star rating, but I'm going with 4.5. Perhaps it was my son not digging it quite as much as we did. That is easily fixed. Next time he gets a sandwich sans sauce.



Inside-Out Grilled Ham-and-Cheese Sandwiches

 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

8 slices of bakery Pullman bread

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/2 pound sliced Swiss cheese, preferably Gruyère

8 ounces thinly sliced ham

Dill pickle slices (optional)

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup apricot preserves 

 

Butter each slice of bread and sprinkle with Parmigiano, pressing to help it adhere. Invert the slices onto a work surface, cheese side down. Top 4 of the slices with the Swiss cheese, ham and pickles. Mix the mustard and preserves and spread on the remaining 4 slices of bread. Close the sandwiches and griddle over moderate heat, turning, until golden, crisp on the outside and melted inside, about 3 minutes. Cut in half and serve right away.



Yummy crisp parmesan crust!