Your new favorite grilled cheese combo is right here! Eggplant Pesto Caprese Grilled Cheese has layers of fried eggplant, pesto, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, grilled to melty perfection!
Eggplant Pesto Caprese Grilled Cheese – I said a mouthful. But the only mouthful that you should be concerned about at this moment in time is the ten mouthful’s of this GLORIOUS grilled cheese concoction that is so easy to put together it’s not even fair. But life isn’t fair right? So let’s all lament with Egglplant Pesto Caprese Griilled Cheese – mmmkay?
This combo of deliciousness has appeared often on this web space – like with these Baked Eggplant Caprese Stacks – and then this epic Baked Eggplant Caprese Pizza. But THIS guys, is the original gangsta’ of eggplant pesto caprese love – da’ grilled cheese version. I’m not a massive chain restaurant gal – I think it was one too many grilled chicken wraps and oreo madness’s from TGI Fridays throughout my high school career that did the chain in for me (even though I felt the need to make my own homemade version). However, around these parts, there’s The Met Bar and Grill, a local fave with a couple of locations in the area, which just so happens to be a perfect meeting spot for some gal pals and I who don’t have time for life, let alone dinner. So when we find the rare occasion where we all have a night to grab a bite, we seem to always end settling to meet up at the Met Bar.
And what do 75% of us get after pretending we’re all gonna get salad? The “Met Caprese” – as they so sheekly and hip’ly abbreviate it. I however like to make it a super long title so that you know exactly what amazingness you’re getting in this sandwich. Layers of fried eggplant, tomato, pesto and gooey melty mozzarella cheese, grilled to perfection like god intended all sandwiches of the cheese persuasion to be.
Your eggplant is key in this sammy. You really want it to be golden crispy crisp before putting it in the sandwich, or else it’ll get real soggy – still will taste delish, but just be a little texture’ally not 100%. While I’ve gone to the effort of making my own breaded eggplant (like last year when we had an influx of them in our garden – and I made this Baked Eggplant Rollatini – OMG so good) I am a shortcut gal at heart, and ain’t nothin’ wrong with buying the pre-breaded version in your grocer’s freezer section! Or my local Market Basket has a great breaded eggplant that you can buy fresh. Either way, you want to get that in the oven and make it nice and crispy beforehand – 400 degrees for 15 mins should do the trick. After that eggplant is done, slap it together with it’s Eggplant Pesto Caprese Grilled Cheese homies, a couple flips on the skillet, and you have it – the only way you’ll eat grilled cheese from now until you find another really good grilled cheese concoction.
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 4 slices of sourdough bread
- 4oz (1/2 of an 8oz log) of fresh mozzarella (you should end up with 8 thin slices of fresh mozzarella)
- 1/2 cup homemade or storebought pesto
- 4-6 slices of tomato
- 2 slices of breaded eggplant (homemade or store bought)
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Place your breaded eggplant on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Cook the breaded eggplant for 10-15 minutes until the breading starts to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Take your four pieces of sour dough and spread the pesto out evenly on all 4 slices (about 2 tablespoons per slice).
- Slice your mozzarella into 8 thin slices, and then place 2 slices on each piece of bread (so 2 slices of mozzarella cheese per slice). This means that you will have a layer of pesto and cheese on each piece of bread.
- Then, two of the slices, place your sliced tomatoes (2-3 slices per piece) and then place the breaded eggplant on top of the tomato. You can then take the other two slices of the bread with pesto and mozzarella and place them on top of the breaded eggplant (so basically the layers of each sandwich go like this: bread, pesto, mozzarella, tomato, eggplant, mozzarella, pesto, bread).
- Heat your olive oil in a large skillet or fry pan over medium-high heat. Make sure to swirl the oil around so that the pan is fully coated. Once the oil is heated, place each sandwich in the skillet to cook. Cook for 2-4 minutes on one side and then flip. Cook 2-4 minutes on the other side, and flip again. Repeat this process until the mozzarella is fully melted and the bread has turned a nice golden brown.
- Serve hot!