Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis
Grilled Cheese with Spinach and Pancetta
- Level: Easy
- Total: 47 min
- Prep: 10 min
- Inactive: 7 min
- Cook: 30 min
- Yield: 8 sandwiches
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 16 servings
- Calories
- 301
- Total Fat
- 22 g
- Saturated Fat
- 11 g
- Carbohydrates
- 15 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 1 g
- Sugar
- 2 g
- Protein
- 11 g
- Cholesterol
- 49 mg
- Sodium
- 398 mg
- Level: Easy
- Total: 47 min
- Prep: 10 min
- Inactive: 7 min
- Cook: 30 min
- Yield: 8 sandwiches
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 16 servings
- Calories
- 301
- Total Fat
- 22 g
- Saturated Fat
- 11 g
- Carbohydrates
- 15 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 1 g
- Sugar
- 2 g
- Protein
- 11 g
- Cholesterol
- 49 mg
- Sodium
- 398 mg
Ingredients
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Directions
- Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Lay the pancetta in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets and bake until crispy and brown, about 12 to 14 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Cool for 5 minutes and crumble. Set aside.
- In a food processor, combine the butter, cheeses, salt, and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Blend until smooth, adding extra oil, as needed, until the mixture is spreadable. Add the spinach and pulse until just combined.
- Preheat a panini maker. Spread the cheese mixture over 8 slices of bread. Top with the crumbled pancetta. Put the remaining bread slices on top. Grill the sandwiches, 2 at a time, until golden and crispy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes, then cut each sandwich in half and arrange on a platter.
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52 Reviews
DevynBJanuary 17, 2018
Loved it! The spinach was a great addition! We did one thing different by adding onion to the food processor along with the other stuff. Only about 1/4 of an onion. It was delicious
DeeDee G.July 31, 2014
I love grilled cheese and adding spinach is a great idea, but I don’t need all the extra butter and oil, ick. I made a couple of changes that made this faster and less fattening. I used lean ham lunch meat instead of pancetta. Cook the ham in a pan to brown up a little, not necessary if you don’t want to. Put the cheese and spinach in a food processor, now here is where it gets interesting, I used low sodium chicken broth in place of the butter. You can use vegetable broth if you want to, you just want to make the cheese spreadable. I used a couple of tablespoons, adjust to your desired amount of moistness. Give the processor a few spins and you’re done. Spread the cheese on the bread, we use whole wheat, put on your slice of ham and you’re done! I like to butter my bread on both sides, lightly! I don’t have a panni press but I do have a waffle iron, cool huh? Put the sandwich in the waffle iron a couple of minutes, adjust the time for your desired amount of toastedness, done! YUMMY
nettiJune 2, 2017
genius idea
Emma M.February 25, 2013
I made these for my family adn they loved these! Definitely a keeper.
Gabriela G.November 12, 2012
A little time consuming to make compared to slapping a slice of cheese between 2 bread slices, but it's worth the time. It's a tastier and fancier alternative to a regular grilled cheese sandwich. Since we were having the sandwiches with the fish sticks, I didn't add any pancetta to the mix.
Deborah C.October 1, 2012
Why in the world do these cooks add SALT to everything - especially stuff for kids? Cheese already has so much salt. I am glad, tho, to see the unsalted butter. Also glad there's spinach in there. We used low sodium, low fat turkey bacon cooked crisp (didn't use much; still adds flavor -- or just eliminate and it was good. And why no whole wheat bread? We also added finely chopped onion and next time might add a thinly sliced tomato. It definitely was good, but it's never too early to think about what you're feeding your kids.
GWEN K.August 31, 2012
Used regular bacon (center cut instead of pancetta and it was a hit with kids and adults. The kids who were afraid of the green were told that these were Incredible Hulk sandwiches!
calwyn408August 28, 2012
While this is a healthier alternative to grilled cheese, I didn't like this very much. I don't have a panini maker, so they didn't turn out how they were supposed to. The cheese/spinach mixture was a little too oily for my liking, and making the pancetta was a pain because it smokes up the kitchen so you have to take these outside. I wouldn't make these again.
Kali F.August 7, 2012
This was a really great sandwich with good flavors. I used bacon instead of pancetta bc I like bacon better. One thing I would do next time is make the bacon more on the crispy side because it tends to get squishy when you mix everything together and melt it. Tastes just like a grilled cheese!
ns36July 31, 2012
I'm a college student and I LOVE grilled cheese: this is an awesomely healthy alternative to the grilled cheese truck at school. I went heavy on the spinach, swapped the butter for a little EVOO, and used really good quality cheddar and monterey jack. It was a bit harder to spread than Giada's because it didn't become one smooth paste, but it was much healthier and once the cheese melted it was absolutely delicious!!!
Sarah H.February 3, 2012
This was so decadent, and delicious!!! Very easy too!!
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