For those that have asked, I recently made a very simple summer sandwich (something I saw on Pinterest that I modified). It’s a gorgeous and delicious sandwich but it is not for those on a diet ;)
You need a loaf of sour dough bread, which you will slice thinly. If you can buy bread that is more rectangular in shape, you’ll get more even slices. Once your slices are cut, lightly butter one side of the bread only (as that’s the side you’re going to fry with). In a bowl, you will need about 4-5 large strawberries diced. The key to this sandwich is using fresh ingredients. Nice ripe strawberries and fresh basil. Use 4 large basil leaves (or 6-7 smaller leaves, depending on what you have) and sliver them. You’ll also need 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil and 1/2 tsp of balsamic vinegar (don’t cheapen out, get the good stuff). I also used a bit of lemon zest just to wake it up a bit. Now, for the balsamic vinegar, you can use it as is. I prefer warming mine up a little as it gets sweet and a bit sticky. Just a personal preference.
Once your strawberries, basil, balsamic vinegar and lemon zest have a chance to sit and marinade (give it about 30 minutes), you’ll be ready to get started. Thinly slice your Brie and place them along the unbuttered sides of your bread. What I did was place the buttered side down in the pan on a low temperature setting to give me a chance to place the brie on top, followed by a few spoonfuls of your strawberry mixture. I’ll warn you now, it can get a little messy. Once you have your Brie and strawberry mixture on your bread, use another slice of bread to close the sandwich (buttered side on top). Turn the temperature up, but not much higher as I find sour dough can burn very quickly. I actually burned my first sandwich at medium high heat (around a 7 on my stove) so use a 5 and take your time. I like to lay my spatula on top of my sandwich to push it down a bit. Just watch your sandwich cook. As I mentioned before, sour dough can burn very easily so it only needs to be on the pan for about 4 minutes. Flip your sandwich carefully; and I mean very carefully. You don’t want to burn the bottom of your sandwich, but you want to make sure your Brie has melted enough that the strawberry mixture is sticking to it. If it isn’t yet and you need to flip, just be careful. Adjust your temperature setting if need be as you are really looking to lightly brown the other side while letting the Brie melt.
That’s it. Really. It’s that simple. I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as I did. The beauty of this sandwich is that if you don’t like strawberries, swap tomatoes for strawberries instead. It’ll be just as delicious! Don’t like Brie? No problem. Try Buffalo Mozzarella or Bocconcini. You can play with different types of bread too. I never eat sour dough so it was a treat but I imagine it would taste amazing on any soft but crusty bread (like multigrain Italian or brown rye).
