This is the grilled cheese that we served at our Sixth Annual Seattle Cheese Festival. It is the union of two great things: fettunta, the Italian tradition of grilled bread, a touch of garlic and olio novello; and fonduta, the Italian version of fondue typically made with Fontina Val d’Aosta and truffles. For the sandwich, we omitted the truffles but kept the Fontina, adding two other Northern Italian cheeses: Taleggio and Asiago fresco. While the flavors of these cheeses range from nutty to fruity to sweet, they have one important thing in common: they all melt beautifully. Macrina’s potato bread provides the perfect backdrop: just soft enough but still rustic. Trouble finding the cheeses? Come to DeLaurenti.  

Ingredients:

2 slices Macrina rustic potato bread

2 slices Fontina Val d’Aosta

2 slices Asiago fresco

2 slices Taleggio

Unsalted butter

1 raw garlic clove, peeled

Heat a griddle or a wide sauté pan on medium.

Assemble the sandwich: bread, Fontina, Asiago, Taleggio, bread.

Liberally rub a stick of butter on the pan and place the sandwich in the pan. Swirl to get all the butter on the bread. Flip and repeat the butter/swirl technique on the other side.

Brown evenly and slowly on each side, flipping occasionally. When the interior is molten and the bread is golden brown, remove from the heat and rub the browned bread with raw garlic. Cut and serve immediately.

Serves 1

To drink: Cold Beer, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Blanc