Mac ‘n Cheese Grilled Cheese

It’s the last day of April, which means that National Grilled Cheese Month is drawing to a close. We’ve got one last guest blogger today, Stefani Pollack from Cupcake Project, and she’s sharing just about the cheesiest grilled cheese sandwich possible: Mac ‘n Cheese Grilled Cheese.

The mac ‘n cheese isn’t on the inside, like with the Grilled Mac & Cheese with BBQ Pulled Pork I shared several years ago. Nope — the mac ‘n cheese is on the outside of this sandwich, serving as the “bread”. What? I’ll let Stef tell you all about it…

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From Stefani:
Hey, I just met you – and this is crazy – but that’s what happens when Kathy is gone and I get to take over.  I’m all about the unexpected on Cupcake Project and I wanted to give all of you a taste of my culinary insanity.  I recently made cupcakes for my chickens (you’ve got to meet Mrs. Grint), I’ve made jelly beans from scratch, and the last time I made a grilled cheese sandwich it involved a chocolate chip cookie.

So, bear with me for a minute while I blow your mind: the bread on this grilled cheese sandwich is actually mac ‘n’ cheese.  What you are looking at above is two slices of mac ‘n’ cheese “bread” grilled with more cheese in-between.  Disgusting?  Maybe.  Every child’s dream sandwich?  Oh, yeah!

It took some experimentation to come up with a viable mac ‘n’ cheese “bread” that would hold its shape.  The key, I found, is to food processes cooked mac ‘n’ cheese and to mix in eggs to provide a glue.  Then, I spread the mixture thinly in mini loaf pans to make my “bread slices”; each mini loaf is one slice of “bread”.  When you grill the “bread” with the cheese, the part of the “bread” touching the cheese starts to break down a bit and you can actually see mac ‘n’ cheese mixed with the melted cheese.  However, the outside of the “bread” can still be hand-held.

I used sliced cheddar cheese in my mac ‘n’ cheese sandwich, but I wouldn’t recommend it.  The sandwich lacked contrast since the cheddar cheese was the same flavor as the “bread”.  Next time (which won’t be soon for the sake of my family’s health), I would use a different sliced cheese (perhaps Swiss) or stick with the sliced cheddar and use something like a smoked Gouda to make the mac ‘n’ cheese.

 Want more?

If you like the idea of mac ‘n’ cheese in grilled cheese, but find that mac ‘n’ cheese bread is a bit much for you, try Kathy’s grilled mac & cheese with BBQ pulled pork.  It’s on my list!  If you like the idea of unique mac ‘n’ cheese, give my butternut squash mac ‘n’ cheese cupcakes a go.

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Mac ‘N’ Cheese Grilled Cheese

By Stefani Pollack of Cupcake Project

Yield: 1 grilled cheese sandwich

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups cooked mac ‘n’ cheese, refrigerated overnight
• 2 large eggs
• 3 slices of cheese (your choice)
• ½ tablespoon butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Food process mac ‘n’ cheese with eggs until it looks like a thick, goopy batter.
3. Spread batter evenly in two mini loaf pans. The batter should only be along the bottoms of the loaf pans.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until the mac ‘n’ cheese appears solid.
5. Keep in the loaf pans until the mac ‘n’ cheese “bread” is completely cool.
6. Carefully remove “bread” from the loaf pans.
7. Assemble the sandwich by placing the cheese between the two slices of “bread”.
8. Melt butter on a skillet at medium-low heat.
9. Place sandwich on the skillet and let sit for 3-5 minutes or until the bottom starts to brown (sneak a peek using a spatula).
10. Carefully flip the sandwich and cover with a lid or foil until the cheese melts (another 3-5 minutes).
11. Serve hot.

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