Back when we lived in Ann Arbor, we held an annual Oscars Party complete with a red carpet, fancy dress (UK style, meaning costumes), and lots of champagne. The first year, our last guest left at 4:30am (yes, on a Monday morning), we had to split the bottles for recycling over the following four weeks, and those who made it to work the next day went with raging hangovers.
The second year, we got wiser and moved it to Saturday night (which was fine, since no on watched the awards show anyway), set up our George Foreman grill and made grilled cheese sandwiches to soak up all the champagne.
Our dear friend, Bhavna, brought the ingredients to make grilled cheese the way she grew up eating them in India. OMG. A game changer! Think grilled cheese with Indian pesto. Our recipe is a riff on hers.
Oh, and we always bake our grilled cheese—that way no one is stuck at the stove and everyone can eat at the same time.
When we’re not making these to soak up champagne, we like to serve with our Simple Tomato Soup.
Want to take your grilled cheese game to the next level? Then you‘ll definitely want to try our oven-grilled Tikka Grilled Cheese with sautéd onions and cilantro pesto.
Ingredients
Chutney
1/2 bunch cilantro, washed (OK to leave on stems)
1/2 bag baby spinach
1" piece fresh ginger
1 clove garlic
1 fresh Serrano chili, seeds removed (optional)
2 TBSP raw peanuts or sunflower seeds
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Tikka Onions
1 TBSP neutral oil or ghee
1 medium-large red onion, sliced into rings
1 TBSP Masi Masa Indian Tikka Masala Spice Blend
Sandwich
2 C white cheddar cheese, shredded
4 large slices sourdough bread or 8 smaller slices (our preference, but any hearty bread works)
Blend cilantro, spinach, fresh ginger, garlic, fresh chili, peanuts (or sunflower seeds), lemon juice, and 1 TBSP water until you have a smooth, spreadable paste.
Set aside.
Tikka Onions
In a medium fry pan, heat oil or ghee over medium-low heat.
Add the sliced red onion, stir to coat in oil, then stir in 1 tsp Masi Masa Tikka Masala Spice Blend.
Cook, stirring occasionally until translucent/soft, about 5 minutes.
Sandwich
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Lightly butter one side of 2 slices of bread, making sure to spread to edges.
Place buttered bread on a cookie sheet, butter side down. (We like to cover cookie sheet with parchment paper to make clean up easier.)
Spread 1 TBSP chutney on bread.
Top with 1/3-1/2 cup shredded cheese and a quarter of the Tikka Onions.
Place other pieces of bread on top, lightly butter tops.
Bake for 5 minutes then flip each sandwich over and bake for 5 minutes more. (Both sides of sandwich should be golden brown. If not, bake additional 1 minute at a time).
Also in easy tikka masala recipes for every day of the week
