Marry Me Grilled Cheese
If you’ve tried (and love) Marry Me Chicken, you will absolutely LOVE this grilled cheese! It has all the flavour and creaminess of classic the dish, with all that sundried tomato, basil, and Parmesany goodness, plus fresh sourdough and gooey Havarti! What’s not to love? If you know me at all, you know I love a good dip, so of course I had to make a ‘Marry Me’ sauce to dip this bad boy in. The combination is out of this world and you have to try it! Who knows, it might even make someone fall in love with you! ;)
The Wine Pairing
I tried to look up the origins of Marry Me Chicken to help with choosing the perfect wine pairing for this recipe, since one of my favourite wine pairing guidelines is ‘what grows together, goes together’, but wasn’t super clear! Italian-inspired for sure, but some sources say Tuscan, others say Sicilian. I happened to have a bottle of the Cusumano Alta Mora Etna Bianco (a stunning Sicilian white wine), so I went with that! This wine works in so many ways, well beyond having potentially the same origin as the flavours in this dish. It has the fresh and crisp acidity we want to contrast the gooey saucy sammie and refresh the palate between bites, but it also has some creaminess to it to match the weight of the grilled cheese. If you went with a super light white wine (like a Pinot Grigio, for example) it would likely be overpowered by everything going on in this grilled cheese! I also found that while this wine is dry (AKA not sweet), it has some lovely bright flavours of honey and fresh zesty fruit that plays super well with the little kick of spice in the sauce. If you can’t find this specific wine, any Etna Bianco would do. Alternatively, you can go for an Italian Soave or French Bourgogne Blanc!
A New Addition to My Kitchen (that I love so much):
I partnered with All-Clad Canada for this recipe on Instagram, and was lucky enough to be gifted something I’ve been dreaming of having for years. A gorgeous stainless steel frying pan! Honestly, when it comes to the ideal cookware, stainless steel is where it’s at. And take it from me, a good ol’ self-taught home cook, you don’t have to be a chef or professional in any way to use one! There’s a bit of a learning curve to it (it’s not your classic ‘non-stick’ pan), but once you figure it out you will never go back! All-Clad Canada gave me their 10.5” frying pan from their new G5 Graphite Core Stainless Steel Collection and it was absolutely perfect for this recipe. In all honesty, I was super nervous to use it (since it was so beautiful I didn’t want to ruin it), but after doing my research on how to use it and care for it (which I’ll admit is rare for me), I’m happy to say I nailed it and was so so happy with the result!
In case you’re interested, here’s what I learned:
This thing heats up FAST. Like super fast. And at a way lower temperature than you would expect. I heated it over medium heat and it took all of a minute or two to heat!
You want to let it heat up before adding your butter or oil, and make sure you choose a fat that has a high enough smoke point so that it doesn’t burn!
I didn’t come across this with this specific recipe, but if you’re cooking a piece of meat or fish or something, you’ll want to add it to the preheated pan (with added oil/butter) and leave it alone. If you try to flip it or check it too quickly, it will seem stuck and you might cry a little bit. BUT that just means it isn’t ready yet! It will naturally ‘release’ itself when it’s ready to be flipped, so patience is key!
When you want to clean the pan (like in this recipe, you’ll want to clean it after making the sauce before moving on to the grilled cheese), you want to make sure the pan has completely cooled off before washing it to avoid any discoloration. Luckily, this pan cools down almost immediately because of that graphite core, so you don’t have to wait long!
Anyways - I’m a happy girl with my new pan and can’t wait to continue building my stainless steel cookware collection!!
Marry Me Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add butter, followed by garlic, sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and spices. Stir to combine and let cook for a few minutes.
- Add olive oil followed by flour. Stir to combine to create a thin paste. Slowly add cream and milk while continuing to stir. The sauce should thicken quickly as you stir.
- Add fresh basil and Parmesan cheese and stir until cheese has melted. If needed, add more milk or cream to reach desired consistency. Taste and add salt if desired. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Combine salted butter, sundried tomatoes, roasted red pepper, garlic, basil, and Parmesan in a ramekin to create 'Marry Me' flavoured butter.
- Spread a layer of flavoured butter over each slice of bread, followed by a layer of sundried tomato pesto and then cheese slices. Press your bread slices together and generously butter the outsides.
- Heat your pan to medium heat and add sandwiches. Grill for approximately 3-5 minutes per side until the outsides are an even, crispy golden brown and the cheese has melted.
- Remove from heat and serve immediately with a side of marry me sauce and a chilled glass of Sicilian Etna Bianco!
