Happy Halloween! This recipe comes from BevCooks. As soon as I saw it, I wanted to try it. My kids grew up eating standard grilled cheese sandwiches, but as they have gotten older they like to find more interesting and fancy grilled cheese recipes online for me to try. Doesn’t roasted jalapeno pesto sound amazing? I will definitely use it in other places than just this sandwich. We agreed it would be great on pizza or on sandwich in place of mayo.
The recipe for mascarpone and roasted jalapeno pesto grilled cheese suggests ciabatta bread for the breach choice, which sounds amazing. I just made a loaf of my homemade sourdough yesterday though, so decided to use that.
The pesto for this is super simple. Roast a jalapeno, cut into strips, combine with pistachios, garlic, olive oil and salt and puree. Mix with the mascarpone and you have the filling. I found the original recipe a little bit bland so I added lemon juice, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, grated parmesan and a dash of jalapeno hot sauce. I also added a little sharp cheddar cheese when grilling the sandwiches. I made some Halloween deviled eggs to go on the side since it is Halloween, as well as a simple raw veggie salad.
Mascarpone and Roasted Jalapeno Pesto Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 jalapeno peppers roasted, seeded and stemmed
- 3 scallions chopped
- 1/2 cup roasted and salted pistachios no shell
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 cup mascarpone cheese
- juice of a lemon
- few dashes jalapeno hot sauce optional
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 4 slices sharp cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 slices bread
- butter (or oil or spray) for the pan
Instructions
For the pesto:
- Place the jalapenos on a foil lined baking sheet under the broiler until the get charred with black spots all over them. Place in a bowl for 5 minutes and cover with a towel.
- Remove from a bowl and and use a paper towel to rub off the charred skin (you don't need to get all of it). Seed and stem the pepper and throw in the food processor with the pistachios, garlic, scallions, lemon juice, parmesan, onion and garlic powder and oil. Pulse until mostly combined.
- Pour into a bowl and combine with the mascarpone. Taste it and adjust the salt, pepper, lemon and parmesan as needed. Add hot sauce if using. Spread on the bread and put the cheddar on the other side and put together.
- Heat the oil or butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the sandwiches and fry until golden and the cheese has softened.