This French toast grilled cheese sandwich is the miraculous result of two entirely mundane ingredients; the whitest, most nutritionally devoid bread you can find and a block or ball of pizza mozzarella. An ideal serving situation: coming in from a long run in the rain, showering and getting into pyjamas, putting on some music, and making this most perfect of perfect comfort foods for dinner. Essentially this grilled cheese sandwich is savoury French toast stuffed with oozing mozzarella, do not even think of using bocconcini or top-quality cheese here, the blandness of the cheese is paramount to the end result of this recipe (the same goes for the bread, head straight to the Wonder Bread when purchasing this ingredient.) I first came across this recipe in Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Bites cookbook; I have altered the recipe only slightly as I feel strongly that this grilled cheese sandwich is nearly impossible to improve upon.  I suppose that you could embellish the oozing filling if you wanted too, Nigella’s recipe suggests the addition of chopped red chilis and I imagine a tomato and basil chutney wouldn’t be amiss either, but I love the purity of the mozzarella on its own. I like to use Grana Padano cheese in the four coating because of its slightly sweet taste, but you could also use Piave Vecchio or an aged Asiago if you can find it.

french toast grilled cheese:

(This makes 4 small sandwiches.)

8 pieces of white bread (preferably Wonder Bread or other similar type)

About half of a ball or block of pizza mozzarella, cut into thick slices and then strips

1/3 cup of milk

1/4 cup of flour

2 Tbsp. finely ground Grana Padano cheese

1 egg, whisked lightly with a fork

2 Tbsp. canola oil or light olive oil

1. Line up 3 shallow bowls or plates and fill them in order: milk, flour and cheese, and the egg.

2. Cut the crusts off of the bread and line up the mozzarella cheese strips on 4 slices of the bread, leaving about a half an inch of bread around the perimeter. Place the remaining pieces of bread on top, forming 4 small sandwiches.

3. Squish the overhanging bread together to seal the cheese inside, the bread probably won’t stick together completely but once all the sandwiches have been dredged in the milk, flour, and eggs they’ll become fully sealed.

4. In a large frying pan begin heating the oil over medium heat while you dredge the sandwiches. Working quickly dip the sandwiches on both sides into the milk, then the flour and cheese mixture, and finally the egg. Place the grilled cheese sandwiches in the hot oil and cook for a few moments each side or until the bread has browned evenly. Eat the French toast grilled cheese as is, being careful not to burn yourself when biting into the perfectly melted mozzarella cheese.

The word “lush” is how I would immediately describe Casino Versus Japan’s music, the complex layering creating a synaesthesia effect (at least if you listen to to it while wearing headphones.) I didn’t listen to headphones when making these sandwiches but I remain as enamoured as ever of Casino Versus Japan’s musical efforts.  The album Go Hawaii is one of my favourites because it’s both cheerful and creepy at the same time, it oscillates between camp and something dark.

Casino Versus Japan – Late for School