Note from Kare: Cheese lovers, attention please! Today Brandy from Nutmeg Nanny is bringing you this seriously decadent Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese. Bonus: it’s on the table in 20 minutes!

—

I’m going back to my childhood and making one of my favorite dishes – grilled cheese. But, since I’m an adult now I’m going to give it an adult twist.

I have always had a crazy love for spinach artichoke dip but have been known to not share and overindulge when I see it at parties. So I took all that dip flavor and put it in between two slices of perfectly grilled bread.

I will warn you – this Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese is messy. However, I’ve never been one to shy away from food simply because it’s messy. If that was the case I would never eat another chicken wing again and we know that’s not happening!

The other issue that arises from a messy sandwich is the actually grilling of the sandwich. You go to flip and the bread doesn’t stay in place and then you’re left with a giant mess. Well, I have a little tip for you. If you have a Panini press, they are perfect for making grilled cheese sandwiches. It ensures that each sandwich is cooked equally on both sides – and there is zero flipping! That means that while a little of the mixture might come out the sides you aren’t trying to fight with the sandwich in a pan.

I used fresh spinach in this sandwich but if you were short on time you could totally use a little frozen chopped spinach. It’s actually something I always keep on hand because it can be thrown into almost anything – casseroles, sandwiches, pasta and even smoothies. Just remember to always squeeze the extra water out of your frozen spinach. No one wants a watery grilled cheese – yuck!

Oh and don’t forget to serve your sandwich with a big bowl of tomato soup. What’s a grilled cheese without tomato soup?

More Grilled Cheese Recipes

• Classic Grilled Cheese Sandwiches – everything you need to know to get perfect grilled cheese sandwiches every time!
• White Pizza Grilled Cheese with Ricotta
• Artichoke Arugula Pesto Grilled Cheese
• Butternut Squash Grilled Cheese
• Cranberry, Pear, & Brie Grilled Cheese
• Balsamic Strawberry & Brie Grilled Cheese Sliders
• 32 more grilled cheese sandwich recipes

More Artichoke Recipes

• HowIf you’re an artichoke fiend, be sure to check out my post all about how to prep, cook, and eat fresh artichokes
• Creamy Artichoke Baked Pasta
• Artichoke Arugula Pesto Grilled Cheese

Print

Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese

Inspired by the classic dip, with spinach, artichoke hearts, and three cheeses. The ultimate adult grilled cheese!

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 2 sandwiches

Author Kare

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil divided
• 3 cups fresh baby spinach 3 ounces
• 1 small shallot minced
• 1 6 ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
• 2 ounces mozzarella cheese shredded (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 ounces Parmesan cheese shredded (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 ounces cream cheese room temperature
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste
• 4 slices crusty bread like como or ciabatta

Instructions

• Set a medium skillet over medium heat. When hot, add 1 teaspoon olive oil. Add in the spinach. Cook, stirring occasionally, just until the spinach is wilted. Transfer spinach onto a paper-towel-lined plate. The paper towel will help soak up the moisture from the spinach.
• To the same pan add the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil. Add the shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 3 minutes.
• To a medium bowl add the cooked spinach, shallots, chopped artichoke hearts, shredded mozzarella cheese, shredded Parmesan cheese, and cream cheese. Mix together until blended. Taste and season with desired amount of kosher salt and pepper. Brush remaining olive oil onto one side of each slice of bread. Flip the bread over and cover two slices with equal parts of the spinach artichoke filling. Top with remaining slice of bread (leaving the oiled sides out).
• To cook on a panini press: Heat your panini press to medium-high. Add sandwich to press. Let cook slowly until the outside of the bread is golden brown and the inside is melted and warm, about 10 minutes.
• To cook in a skillet: Wipe out saute pan and place over medium heat. Place the sandwich in the skillet. Cook, pressing sandwich with the bottom of a spatula and carefully flipping every couple of minutes, until golden on both sides and melted through.

More melty-gooey-good grilled cheese recipes:

• White Pizza Grilled Cheese – for-real deliciousness.
• Artichoke Arugula Pesto Grilled Cheese – yesss.
• Chipotle Butternut Squash & Pepper Jack Grilled Cheese – spicy!
• Cranberry, Pear, & Brie Grilled Cheese – perfect for using up leftover cranberry sauce. (Make extra sauce so you have an excuse!)
• Balsamic Strawberry & Brie Grilled Cheese Sliders tasty AND cute.
• And even more grilled cheese sandwich recipes – 32 melty, gooey, savory, fruity, and just plain over-the-top grilled cheese sandwiches.
• How to Make a Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich – because basic is never bad! Here’s how to do it just right.

The post Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.

Here, my friends, I offer you an Artichoke Arugula Pesto Grilled Cheese. Pure unadulterated, um, lunch.

I love a good grilled cheese. Which, incidentally, I typically don’t call “grilled cheese.” In our house, it’s called toasted cheese, but when in Rome … or when writing a food blog … you do as the Romans/bloggers do. And pretty much everyone else. So “grilled cheese” it is. At least in print.

This Artichoke Arugula Pesto Grilled Cheese was inspired by an incredible sandwich that I’ve enjoyed for years at one of my favorite restaurants. It’s a smoked mozzarella sandwich slathered with pesto and topped with tomatoes. It’s perfection. They’ve recently removed it from the menu (WHAT) but, so far, they’re still willing to make it for me when I ask. So that’s cool.

But I wanted to make something similar at home. And I wanted it to have artichoke hearts. And arugula. And cheddar instead of mozzarella. Really, I suppose the only similarity is that this, too, is a grilled cheese with pesto.

Allow me to daydream for a minute, here. Pesto on grilled cheese is a very, very good thing. The pesto gets all warm and melty, its intense green goodness simultaneously infiltrating the bread and mingling with glorious melted cheese.

This particular version features a super-addicting pesto made with arugula, artichoke hearts, walnuts, and lemon. When combined with golden buttered bread and salty-sharp cheddar cheese, the result is heaven.

Pure unadulterated bliss.

More Grilled Cheese Recipes

• How to Make the Perfect Classic Grilled Cheese – learn the secret to the perfect grilled cheese sandwich, every time!
• Spinach & Artichoke Grilled Cheese
• White Pizza Ricotta Grilled Cheese – SO good.
• Chipotle Butternut Squash & Pepper Jack Grilled Cheese – spicy!
• Cranberry, Pear, & Brie Grilled Cheese – perfect for using up leftover cranberry sauce
• Balsamic Strawberry & Brie Grilled Cheese Sliders
• And even more grilled cheese sandwich recipes

More Artichoke Recipes

• How to select, prep, cook, & eat artichokes
• Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese
• Creamy Artichoke Baked Pasta

Print

Artichoke Arugula Pesto Grilled Cheese

Creamy artichoke-arugula pesto and sharp cheddar melt together deliciously in this simple – but simply divine – grilled cheese sandwich. Add a little grilled chicken or cooked bacon to the meat-eaters’ sandwiches, and everyone’s happy!

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 2 sandwiches

Author Kare

Ingredients

For the artichoke arugula pesto:

• 3 cups about 2 ounces baby arugula
• 1 cup canned artichoke hearts packed in water drained
• 2 garlic cloves coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup walnuts
• ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Freshly grated zest and juice of 1 medium lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the sandwiches:

• 4 slices of a good crusty Artisan bread, about 1/2-inch thick
• 4 ounces thinly sliced sharp cheddar cheese Beecher’s Flagship is a favorite
• 3-4 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
•  

Instructions

• Make the pesto. In a food processor, pulse together the baby arugula, artichoke hearts, garlic, walnuts, Parmesan, zest, lemon juice, and salt until the texture resembles a very coarse meal. While the food processor is running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until the mixture forms a saucy, spreadable pesto (you may need a little less or a little more olive oil).
• Make the sandwiches. Butter the outsides of each slice of bread and lay buttered side down. Spread 2 tablespoons pesto on the inside of each slice. Lay cheese on two of the slices and cover each with the second slice of bread, pesto side down and buttered side up.
• Heat an electric griddle or large frying pan over medium-low heat. Carefully transfer sandwiches to cooking surface and cook, pressing occasionally with the back of a spatula, until golden brown. Flip and cook the other side, pressing occasionally, until browned. Turn the sandwich back over and continue cooking, turning occasionally, until the cheese has completely melted, about 5 more minutes.
• Slice in half and serve.

More melty-gooey-good grilled cheese recipes:

• White Pizza Grilled Cheese – for-real deliciousness.
• Spinach & Artichoke Grilled Cheese – like the classic dip, only better. Proof that’s possible!
• Chipotle Butternut Squash & Pepper Jack Grilled Cheese – spicy!
• Cranberry, Pear, & Brie Grilled Cheese – perfect for using up leftover cranberry sauce. (Make extra sauce so you have an excuse!)
• Balsamic Strawberry & Brie Grilled Cheese Sliders tasty AND cute.
• And even more grilled cheese sandwich recipes – 32 melty, gooey, savory, fruity, and just plain over-the-top grilled cheese sandwiches.
• How to Make a Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich – because basic is never bad! Here’s how to do it just right.

The post Artichoke Arugula Pesto Grilled Cheese appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.

I’ve been putting my daughter in short sleeves (finally!) and attempting to apply sunscreen to her chubby little arms and the little space on the back of her neck, which is really, really difficult to do on a wriggly one-and-a-half-year-old. Training her to wear a sun hat when she wants nothing (ever!) on her head is a challenge, too.

We’re just not used to this bright yellow orb in the sky, but we welcome it. Oh, how we welcome it.

It was so warm yesterday that a nice, crisp, simple salad sounded like the perfect lunch. So I tossed together some spring veggies and topped them with a wonderful, creamy avocado ranch dressing that made me even giddier than I was already feeling.

A simple bed of spring baby greens holds sugar snap peas, sliced scallions, tender asparagus, tangy marinated artichoke hearts, and snappy radishes. A drizzle of garlicky avocado ranch and a sprinkle of sunflower seeds completes the scene.

Oh, salad weather. How we missed you so.

Print

Spring Veggie Salad with Creamy Avocado Ranch

A simple bed of spring baby greens holds sugar snap peas, sliced scallions, tender asparagus, tangy marinated artichoke hearts, and snappy radishes. A drizzle of garlicky avocado ranch and a sprinkle of sunflower seeds completes the scene.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 minutes minutes

Total Time 17 minutes minutes

Servings 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side

Author Kare

Ingredients

Salad:

• 1 small bunch asparagus washed and cut into 2-inch sections (about 1/2 cup chopped)
• 4 cups spring baby greens well-dried
• 3 - 4 small radishes sliced
• 1/2 cup sugar snap peas cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 - 5 green onions sliced
• 1 5.5 ounce jar artichoke hearts drained
• Sunflower seeds

Dressing:

• 1 avocado about 1 cup chopped
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt I use 2% for this dressing, but whole-milk Greek yogurt or sour cream would work too
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 small garlic clove finely minced
• 1 tablespoon minced chopped scallions
• 1/4 cup minced fresh chives
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme or 1/2 teaspoon fresh
• 1/2 teaspoon salt + more to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Couple dashes of Tabasco sauce optional

Instructions

• Make the dressing. In a food processor, whir the avocado and lemon juice until smooth. Add the Greek yogurt, milk, and garlic and puree until completely blended. Add additional milk if you prefer a smoother dressing. Move mixture from food processor to a small bowl. Stir in the scallions, chives, parsley, thyme, salt, black pepper, and Tabasco if using. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if you like. Set aside.
• Bring a medium saucepan half-full of water to a boil. Add asparagus pieces and cook for two minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a medium-size bowl with cold water and ice. Lift asparagus out of the water and immediately plunge into the cold water. This helps keep the asparagus from cooking any longer and keeps that nice, bright green color. Lay asparagus on paper towels to drain any excess water.
• Place spring greens into a medium salad bowl. Top with asparagus, radishes, sugar snap peas, green onions, and artichoke hearts. Drizzle with ranch dressing and sprinkle with sunflower seeds. Serve.

The post Spring Veggie Salad with Creamy Avocado Ranch appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.