Italian Butter Grilled Cheese [Croutons]

The Ides of March happened just recently. I enjoy doing a "Caesar Feast" that includes Chicken Caesar Salad...so I wanted to make my own croutons. And last year, I came up with this:

It turns out that April 12th is National Grilled Cheese Day. Interesting, right? Well, I heard some trivia on April 12th that the (grilled) cheese sandwich originated in Rome. I thought about just adding grilled cheese to the Caesar Feast...but then a lightbulb went off!

Grilled Cheese Croutons for the Caesar Salad (or just a different kind of grilled cheese)! Oh yes...this would happen...

I wandered around Pinterest to see if I could find a grilled cheese crouton-type recipe. I found out that the croutons being used for soup were simply cubed up pieces of grilled cheese sandwiches. After that, I started coming across a lot of different grilled cheese recipes for the summertime being pinned. 

So, here you go...I was inspired & this is what I came up with:

ITALIAN BUTTER GRILLED CHEESE [CROUTONS]

1. Set oven to 450 degrees F

2. Mix in a small bowl for Italian butter:

1-2 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper

2 palmfuls crushed oregano

1 palmful crushed basil

1 palmful crushed parsley flakes

1 1/2 palmful garlic powder

1 palmful grated parmesan cheese

submerge in EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

3. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray & then use day-old/slightly-stale bread.

4. Take a short basting brush & "paint" the Italian butter onto one side of the bread.

5. Place the "butter" side down onto the cooking sheet

6. Place 1 slice of either provolone or mozzarella cheese onto the bread. 

(Sargento has a provolone/mozzarella blend, so that's what I used) 

Only use 1 slice since you do not want croutons to be over cheesy. If you are making just a sandwich, feel free to use 2 slices.

7. Repeat step 4

8. Place on top of cheese with "butter" side up

9. Once the baking sheet has been covered (the Italian butter lasted enough for 16 slices/8 sandwiches, which just fit my baking sheet), place in the oven for 6-8 minutes

10. Pull out of the oven when the sandwiches start to appear golden brown (mine ended up a hair darker on the bottom side after 7 1/2 minutes, but they turned out fine)

11. Begin to cube the sandwiches into 16 pieces. I began with a knife, but found a pizza cutter to be much more efficient

After I cubed my 8 sandwiches, I ended up with 128 grilled cheese croutons. I tossed them in with our Caesar salad for dinner.

Isn't it beautiful? And everything was SO yummy!

These can be done on the griddle or in a skillet, too...especially if you just want the Italian Butter Grilled Cheese sandwich without cubing them.

So delicious!

Pretty, huh? I took either a cherub or sunburst tomato, a small piece of mozzarella cheese, wrapped a basil leaf around them, skewered the combo with a toothpick & then brushed each mini salad with the leftover Italian Butter.

So pretty, so cute...so tasty! And one of my faves!

ENJOY!