Polka-Dot Grilled Cheese

In The Fourth Trimester, we ask parents: What meal nourished you after welcoming your baby? This month it’s the easiest grilled cheese from cookbook author Kristen Miglore.

Despite its easy-breezy reputation, making grilled cheese in a skillet takes time and patience—rush it and the bread will inevitably burn before the cheese can melt. But I stumbled onto a much faster and more foolproof (and astoundingly delicious) way during the first month of my son’s life, when I was endlessly hungry and didn’t have time to hover over the pan. The key is a polka-dot toast method under the broiler—inspired by the late cookbook author Edna Lewis and editor Amanda Sims Clifford—that makes a gorgeous ombré crust.

Though this recipe is built for one, it doubles well on the generous surface of a baking sheet, unlike grilled cheese made in a skillet. Slightly stale presliced sourdough or other breads from the supermarket bakery section crisp best—not squishy loaves with dough conditioners that keep them plush, not fancy crusty sourdough or country loaves. You can adjust the amount of butter and cheese to the size of your bread, your hunger, and your mood, but don’t go more than about 1½ Tbsp. butter to keep the moisture in check.

If you want to make the sandwich even faster, you can spread the bread edge to edge with mayonnaise instead of the butter bits (a popular technique touted here, though you won’t get the polka-dotted effect. Feel free to layer in kimchi, pickles, jam, mustard, chili crisp, a slice of tomato, pear, or apple, or whatever you’re craving under the blanket of grated cheese, before broiling and smashing the bread slices together.

Recipe information

• Total Time

  15 minutes

• Yield

  1

Total Time

15 minutes

Yield

1

Ingredients

2

1

3

Need to make a substitution?

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Place a rack in upper third of oven; heat broiler. Arrange two ½"-thick slices sourdough bread on a baking sheet.

   Step 2

   Slice 1 Tbsp. chilled salted butter as thinly as you can, then quickly break slices into bits about the size of a blueberry as you scatter them evenly over bread, covering from edge to edge and leaving about ½" between each piece. (It’s okay if it’s not perfect, but you want fairly even coverage so nothing burns.)

   Step 3

   Broil bread, watching closely, until toast has little puddles of soft gold radiating outward to well-browned, crunchier sections, 30–60 seconds. Turn bread over with a wide spatula and cover both slices evenly from edge to edge with 3 oz. sharp cheddar, coarsely grated (about 1 cup). (It’s okay if a little cheese drops on baking sheet). Broil until cheese is melted but not browned, about 30 seconds.

   Step 4

   Turn 1 bread slice over onto the other and press cheesy sides together to make a sandwich. If you’d like a little more crisp to your bread, briefly broil each side one more time until sizzling and perfectly browned.

   Step 5

   Transfer sandwich to a cutting board and slice in half (on a diagonal, preferred) with a serrated knife. Sprinkle outsides of sandwich with a pinch of kosher salt if desired and let cool just enough to eat.

Step 1

Place a rack in upper third of oven; heat broiler. Arrange two ½"-thick slices sourdough bread on a baking sheet.

Step 2

Slice 1 Tbsp. chilled salted butter as thinly as you can, then quickly break slices into bits about the size of a blueberry as you scatter them evenly over bread, covering from edge to edge and leaving about ½" between each piece. (It’s okay if it’s not perfect, but you want fairly even coverage so nothing burns.)

Step 3

Broil bread, watching closely, until toast has little puddles of soft gold radiating outward to well-browned, crunchier sections, 30–60 seconds. Turn bread over with a wide spatula and cover both slices evenly from edge to edge with 3 oz. sharp cheddar, coarsely grated (about 1 cup). (It’s okay if a little cheese drops on baking sheet). Broil until cheese is melted but not browned, about 30 seconds.

Step 4

Turn 1 bread slice over onto the other and press cheesy sides together to make a sandwich. If you’d like a little more crisp to your bread, briefly broil each side one more time until sizzling and perfectly browned.

Step 5

Transfer sandwich to a cutting board and slice in half (on a diagonal, preferred) with a serrated knife. Sprinkle outsides of sandwich with a pinch of kosher salt if desired and let cool just enough to eat.

Recipe notes