Allow me to introduce you to the Pancetta Grilled Cheese Sandwich.
This sandwich is a hot, greasy, delicious stack of cheesy porcine goodness. It is very quick and easy to make. And it is perfect to eat for lunch on a cold winter day.
All you need is two slices of bread, two slices of cheddar cheese (or your favorite cheese), and three slices of deli sliced pancetta. I used Boar’s Head pancetta from the deli at Albertson’s.
First I heated up a frying pan over medium heat. Then I fried the pancetta slices just to crisp them a bit – since the slices were thin, this took barely 30 seconds on each side. I removed the pancetta slices from the frying pan and placed them on a paper towel lined plate to drain the excess grease (because believe me, there will be plenty of grease on the sandwich when this project is over).
There should be some grease left in the frying pan from the pancetta, so you really don’t need to butter one of the slices of bread. Just put it in the grease and then place the two slices of cheddar cheese on top. Arrange the three slices of pancetta on top of the cheese and grill the bread for a couple minutes until it is toasty and the cheese starts to soften. Be careful because the bread might burn quickly if you fry it at too high of a temperature. Next you butter one side of the second piece of bread and place it on top of the stack before flipping the sandwich over. Continue frying the sandwich just long enough to get the second slice of bread to a level of toastiness that suits your tastes, and also to make sure the cheese is melted.
That’s it. Sink your teeth into the gooey mess and enjoy.