Cheese Lover’s Fontina and Mozzarella Grilled Cheese Sandwich – Warm, gooey comfort food at its finest! Best & cheesiest grilled cheese ever!
This is the cheesiest grilled cheese I’ve ever had. And the best.
If you like a little bread with your cheese, this is the sandwich for you.
Growing up, I ate more than my fair share of grilled cheese. They were made with one Kraft Single, a little Velveeta, or maybe if we were lucky, some colby.
But my thoughts are that if you’re going to eat a grilled cheese, don’t forget about the cheese. It’s the star of the show. Otherwise why bother and just have toasted bread with butter.
I used sliced fontina and grated mozzarella on a sliced French baguette. I love fontina for it’s supremely awesome melting powers. It melts so smoothly, evenly, and perfectly and I want to use it on everything. However, it’s about three times the price ounce for ounce of mozzarella so I use mozz when possible and save fontina for when it really counts and can shine.
The two cheeses melt together and form a giant, oozing, hot beautiful mess. Other cheeses that melt nicely and offer great flavor include brie, Havarti, smoked gouda, or pepper Jack.
The French baguette I used was fairly small and depending on your bread of choice, you may need more cheese than I did in order to achieve cheese lover’s status.
Make sure that every inch of bread is covered with sliced fontina and top with a loose pile about 1 to 2 inches high of grated mozzarella.
Some will inevitably fall onto the bottom of the frying pan, but that’s okay. A little burnt cheese never hurt anyone.
I always cook my grilled cheese over medium heat and cover the pan. Low and slow.
I’d rather take my time and get a golden brown sear than blacken it.
Covering the pan helps the cheese melt more swiftly so it melts completely before the sandwich becomes too dark on either side.
Fontina and mozzarella melt very easily, but if you’re using say cheddar and American, covering is insurance to promote melting.
It’s warm, gooey comfort food at it’s finest.
Warm, white bread that stays fluffy and soft in the middle with lightly crisped edges, the slight saltiness from the cheese make it a total winner.
It would taste especially good after a late night out, for a lazy brunch, or dinner when you just can’t deal with anything more complicated.
It would definitely help with a case of the Mondays.
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Cheese Lover's Fontina and Mozzarella Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Ingredients
- 2 slices bread, I used a soft, small French baguette; use your favorite
- 1 to 2 tablespoons butter, softened for generous spreading (I use unsalted butter)
- about 1 to 2 ounces sliced fontina cheese, or enough to cover every inch of bread
- about 1 to 2 ounces grated mozzarella cheese, enough to loosely pile 1 to 2 inches high
Instructions
- Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.
- Generously butter one side of 1 piece of bread and place it buttered side down in skillet.
- Quickly add the fontina, completely covering the surface of the bread with cheese.
- Generously sprinkle on the mozzarella, completely covering the fontina, so it’s loosely piled 1 to 2 inches high, mounded up and puffy. Some will inevitably fall off and it’s okay, but watch the fallen cheese while cooking so it doesn’t burn.
- Butter the other slice of bread on 1 side and place it on top the cheese, buttered side up.
- Cover the pan (helps to melt the cheese more quickly so either side doesn’t become too browned before cheese melts) and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or as necessary, until bottom of bread is golden browned.
- When golden, flip sandwich over and cook covered for about 2 minutes, or as necessary, until second piece of bread is golden browned. If necessary, reduce heat to medium-low to ensure cheese melts fully before bread gets too dark. Top of sandwich may slide off a bit from all the cheese. Reposition as necessary or embrace the rustic look.
- Slice, if desired, and serve immediately. Sandwich is best warm and fresh.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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ahhhhhhhhh!!!!! SO CHEESY!! I am dying over the melty yumminess
Oh goodness, this looks so delicious! Such a tease for someone needing to avoid gluten & dairy!!
Yum!! Wouldn’t this just be heavenly with a big bowl of tomato soup? Pinning for our next cold day!
thanks for pinning!
the one thing i ate over and over again while prego and still do in fact is grill cheese. It is my old but goody favorite and I love your version with the fontina! Delish
I am trying at least 3 of these recipes..This made me hungry..I saw you on the Chef in training Talent Tuesday!
You are so sweet for wanting to try some recipes and thanks for popping over from Nikki’s site. She’s such a great girl :)
gorgeous Averie! How are you? Miss talking to you
Hi sweets! Good – just busy with life, blog, etc. You know how it goes! xoxo :) Thanks for saying hi!!
OMG! This is amazing!!! I’m so hungry now haha Thanks for the recipe :)
Oh my gosh Averie. OH MY GOSH. This is a heavenly post!!!! As soon as I clicked through I was completely enraptured by all of those glorious images of molten, delicious grilled cheese and toasty golden bread. Heaven in a sandwich. I haven’t really made a grilled cheese sandwich with fontina before so I think that needs to change. Yum, thanks for the inspiration! x
Thanks for the glowing comments you left me today! :)
*Beautiful pictures Averie* that’s what I meant to say until spell check did it’s own thing
My mouth is watering literally. I am tempted to run of the office, go home and try out this recipe. Beautiful pictures Averse. Page saved so I don’t loose it
Thanks for the compliments!
What a glorious stack of grilled cheese! I probably shouldn’t have this with Cabo right around the corner but this is why I run, right? :)
LOL…me too :)
This would help with any case, not just mondays! LOL I adore grilled cheeses, and mozz and fontina sounds like a fabulous combo for one!! The crispy bread on the outside with bits of hard cheese,wow, excuse my drool.
A comfort classic at its finest!! I am in agreement with you about the slow and low, def makes the best grilled cheese. I really like your mozzarella fontina combo! = )
“Growing up I ate more than my fair share of grilled cheese…” Have you been reading my biography again? GREG
LOL! I bet we could swap stories about Twinkies or Hostess pies, too :)
My mom never really enjoyed cooking, so we ate tons of grilled cheese sandwiches growing up. They were all exactly the same: Whole Wheat Oroweat bread with Tillamook extra sharp cheddar, melted/toasted in the toaster oven so she wouldn’t have to stand watch over the stove and worry about flipping them. And sometimes served with ketchup, just because. Your incredible version looks much classier, and I’m kicking myself for not catching up on blog posts before going to the grocery store. I desperately want fontina now!!
I like your mom’s thought process :) I have a fancy toaster (oven) but it’s still a push down thing, rather than laying flat, so the cheese would leak everywhere. Otherwise I would totally do that! And my college and early 20s wine drinking days consisted of TONS of Tillamook extra sharp cheddar!
I’m the opposite — I’ve never owned a stand-up toaster, only the ones that look like mini ovens! Mom also made quesadillas in there, and tons of cinnamon sugar toast and cheese toast. Until I started my baking phase in high school, I think we used that more than the regular oven! I actually didn’t know other brands/flavors of cheese existed other than Tillamook extra sharp cheddar until early middle school when I started grocery shopping with Mom. I even thought that my kiddie cheese quesadillas at Chevy’s were made with it, and it somehow magically turned white in their kitchen! :)