Grilled cheese

My friend Cathay blogged about grilled cheese and tomato soup the other day. While I enjoy a good old American-cheese-on-white-bread grilled cheese, I mostly make what I call my "gourmet grilled cheese" with goat cheese and cherry tomatoes and it is SO delicious. With the cold snowy winter (hello 12.6 inches in NYC toady) I have been really craving this as a comfort food and am not ashamed to admit that I made these on Saturday, Monday and last night. I know you're dying for a step by step how-to guide, right?!

I like to start with La Brea sourdough bread that I slice about half an inch thick, goat cheese, and about 10 cherry tomatoes which I slice in half lengthwise (makes for better sandwich binding later on!)

I slice off about 1 inch of the goat cheese per sandwich (yes I'm making 2 for myself, don't judge) and sprinkle until the surface of the bread is covered. This is a weird picture though, doesn't it look like I've covered my break in popcorn?

Then layer the cherry tomatoes on top of the goat cheese...

And top with the other slice of bread and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, spread evenly over the bread. I like to use olive oil on these instead of butter - healthier and makes them crisp up really nicely.

Turn your burner on medium heat and plunk those sandwiches on in! I have no method for how long these should cook, and totally depends on your toasting preference, but I'd say 3 minutes for the first side and 1 1/2 for the second. You can test them by pressing down to see how melt-y the goat cheese is - I like mine to ooze out the sides.

Et voila!

I like to eat this paired with Amy's Organic Chunky Tomato Bisque. However, Danny thinks that this soup is too chunky and marinara-y, so I make plain old Campbells for him!

Trust me, you will never go back to American cheese grilled cheeses ever again!