I was inspired recently by a couple of friends who made a really delicious grown-up grilled cheese sandwich! I thought, I could do that! So, I did! But this was a little bit of a leap of faith for me, as this time, I was without the safety net of a recipe. But, then again, how hard can it be to assemble cheese between two pieces of bread and grill it? I must give myself a little more credit than that. I felt empowered standing before the fancy cheese case at the store with the knowledge that I could pick whatever kind I wanted and there was no recipe binding me to a certain way. But, lets get to the soup I chose first-then I will finish telling you about the sandwich.

One of the reasons why I love the Food Network Magazine so much is because of the little booklet that comes inside each one that features 50 of a highlighted dish for that month. Some I’ve seen include: bacon, pancakes, panini sandwiches, condiments, nachos, hot dogs, soup, eggs…you get the idea. It’s kind of exciting to see a compilation of 50 ways to prepare something all in one tiny booklet. Well, my soup came from the soup booklet, obviously, and I choose a potato leek with broccoli. I love a thick and creamy soup with a sandwich-makes for optimum dipping! Here’s how we did it!

I needed three cups of sliced leeks.

I enjoy leeks because they aren’t as pungent as an onion, yet they are of the same family. Cool!

Then, I needed three cups of cubed potato. I would have preferred to use Yukon Gold potatoes for their sweeter, more flavorful and smooth texture, but Russett were the only ones available at the time.

Combine them all in a pot and saute for five minutes with butter, salt and pepper, a sliced clove of garlic, a pinch each of thyme and nutmeg.

After five minutes, add five cups chicken broth and boil until potatoes are tender.

With about three minutes left before potatoes are done, add three cups of broccoli.

Then transfer into a blender. I had to transfer and blend in two separate batches because there was so much soup that it wouldn’t fit all at once.

After the soup is blended, add it back to the pot.

Then, stir in one cup of heavy cream for richness of flavor and added touch of creaminess.

Now, back to the grilled cheese. I remember when I was a kid always calling it “girl” cheese. I truly thought that was what it was called and when a couple neighbor boys came over for lunch of “girl” cheese, I was very upset that they were eating it, too! That’s when my mom explained to me that I was pronouncing it the wrong way.

I chose Fontina cheese because I had seen Bobby Flay use it in a combination of cheeses in a Grilled Cheese Throw Down he had once. If Bobby uses it, it must be good. I had never tasted it before, but it looked like it could be melty and that is what I wanted.

Since I was going for mature flavors, I thought I might add some green olives into the mix.

And place it on crusty artisan bread.

We caramelized some onion and placed it on the slice of bread with the cheese and olives.

It browned up really nicely!

We’ve seen the folks on the Food Network cover their grilled cheese with a bowl to contain the heat, making the cheese more likely to melt all the way through.

It worked!!

I’m happy with my choice of Fontina cheese! Great melting ability and a mild, nutty flavor. The green olives added a nice saltiness and the onions offered a perfect crunch!

I hope I have inspired you to try making grown-up grilled cheese. What cheeses do you like to use?