Nancy Silverton’s L.A. restaurant Pizzeria Mozza celebrates unfussy, straightforward, focused food that uses fresh California produce. This upgraded grilled cheese by the 1990 F&W Best New Chef alum is filled with a charred sweet corn-studded blend of nutty English cheddar, sharp caciocavallo, and just enough mayonnaise to bind it all together.
Ingreadient
- 1 cup fresh corn kernels
- 3 ounces English-style cheddar cheese (such as Keen’s), shredded (about 3/4 cup)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 ounce caciocavallo cheese or provolone cheese, shredded (about 1/4 cup)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped shallot
- 1/4 cup finely chopped scallions
- 1 medium-size jarred Calabrian chile, stemmed and finely chopped (about 2 teaspoons)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3 ounces), softened
- 12 (1/3-inch-thick) sourdough bread slices
Direction
- Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high until smoking. Add corn kernels, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and charred in spots, about 3 minutes. Transfer corn to a large bowl, and let cool 10 minutes. Wipe out skillet, and set aside.
- Add cheddar, mayonnaise, caciocavallo, shallot, scallions, chile, salt, and garlic to corn; stir to combine. Spread butter on one side of each bread slice. Place 6 bread slices, buttered sides down, on a piece of parchment paper, and top evenly with cheese mixture (about 1/3 cup each); spread cheese mixture in an even layer. Top with remaining bread slices, buttered sides up.
- Heat cast-iron skillet over medium. Working in batches, cook sandwiches until golden brown and toasted, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve immediately.
