The Chicken Parm grilled cheese is another throwback recipe from the food truck. This recipe is also a combo of a lot of our past lessons like weekday sauce, my chicken cutlet video, chicken parmesan, and my grilled cheese video. I'll leave those linked below. This chicken parm grilled cheese was named one of Buzzfeed's "31 Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Better Than a Boyfriend" list in 2014. It's a bit extreme but I won't argue with it. Try it for yourself.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 2-3 sandwiches
1-2 Chicken Cutlets, depending on size
3-4 oz, Fresh Mozzarella, sliced thin
1 Cup, Weekday Sauce
Fresh Basil, washed of any dirt
2 Slices of Italian White Bread
Enough mayo to lightly coat each side of bread
Other Videos to Watch:
Chicken Cutlet Video: https://youtu.be/TAX9lEneQtg
Weekday Sauce Video: https://youtu.be/vuzmxdJJcPM
Chicken Parm Video: https://youtu.be/59AUUu_bKOY
Grilled Cheese Video: https://youtu.be/PbP9u48Ckuc
DIRECTIONS Note: When making the chicken cutlets, just be mindful of trying to get them a similar size to the bread you are using. And make sure the sauce is on the thicker side so that it coats the chicken cutlets almost like a buffalo sauce coats wings.
With your Chicken cutlets and your sauce (still hot or reheated) prepared.
Pat the mozzarella as dry as you can before slicing. Slice the mozzarella as thin as you can.
Get a cast iron pan (or any other pan you have but cast iron mimics the flat top griddle we used on the truck the best) on to the heat and let it heat up on medium to medium low depending on the power of your burner. You don’t want this to cook too fast. You risk burning the bread and not melting the cheese. Let that heat up while you assemble the sandwich.
It’s time to assemble the sandwich. First, take the bread and lay down the bread opened up so it’s set up to easy close when you're finished assembling. Italian white bread is almost like regular sandwich bread, like soft white bread, but made in a rustic shape and is often a little more narrow than other bread. The crust isn’t hard, it should be a little soft. The bread is important for this sandwich.
With the bread laying down, coat each slice with the mozzarella. Then on top of the mozzarella, a few leaves of basil on each slice.
Then take the chicken cutlet that best fits the two slices of bread and then dip it in the hot tomato sauce to coat it. Then place it on top of one slice of the bread. Then close the sandwich.
By now the pan should be perfectly preheated. Not too hot, not too cool. Place the sandwich in the pan without any fat or mayo. Press down to get full contact to the pan. Let that side of bread lightly toast. About a minute or two. Then flip it and let the other side toast just the same. While the other side toasts spread the thinnest layer of mayo you can on the entire surface of the bread. If you have too much, just use the edge of whatever you’re using to spread the mayo to remove any excess. And when the second side is nicely toasted, flip it again to brown the side you just spread mayo on.
While that side is browning, spread mayo the newly toasted side of the sandwich. Wait for the side that’s cooking to get a beautiful golden brown. Then flip it and do the same.
Depending on how cold your cheese was when you started cooking will really affect the time it takes to melt. If your bread is nicely browned but the cheese isn’t fully melted, just lower the heat, and continue to cook it, flipping often to make sure no side gets too dark. Do this until the cheese is melted to your liking.
Then remove from the pan, let it side for 30 seconds to cool slightly. Then slice in have and enjoy!
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