Cannoli Grilled Sandwich |Cooking With Amanda

I realized the other day that there are a whole slew of desserts that I have never made and also never even tasted! That truly saddens me. Sometimes I think there are so many recipes to make and to taste, that I may never actually get to them in my lifetime. I have to start a baking bucket list.

So far I've been able to cross off pavlovas and angel food cake from my "must make" list. That's a good start, but I have lots of work to do. What's up next on my dessert bucket list? Well let's see, I have yet to try a crème brûlée. I'm sure it tastes good, and while it cannot be that hard to make, it's that whole torched sugary topping that concerns me.

Profiteroles are another must try dessert. Pastry dough isn't exactly my forte, but I'm willing to give it a try. Along the same lines is a croquembouche. Seems like something I should try someday. The problem with that dessert is I don't really see the point in making lots and lots of pastry balls to stack in a tall tower just to pick it apart and eat it. Sure, it looks impressive but seems completely impractical.

Petit fours petrify me, baked Alaska alarms me, soufflés scare me, tortes terrify me and mousse mystifies me! I could probably make these desserts but it's the time involved. I suppose what it comes down to is I don't have time to fail.

I figured it was time to get creative with my dessert bucket list: enter cannoli grilled sandwich. I've never eaten a cannoli, let alone tried to make one. And now with this cannoli grilled sandwich, I'm not going to bother. This sandwich has all the flavors of a cannoli, but only takes minutes to prepare.

Sweetened ricotta cheese is brightened up with fresh orange zest and then placed on ciabatta bread with mini chocolate chips. The heat from the grill pan intensifies that sweet ricotta cream and that fresh orange zest brings out the chocolate flavor.

Bucket list? Who needs a bucket list; I'll just eat another sammie.

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Cannoli Grilled Sandwich Recipe

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Ingredients

1 cup ricotta cheese
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon pure almond extract
8 teaspoons mini chocolate chips
8 slices ciabatta
4 teaspoons butter

Directions

In a small bowl combine ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, orange zest and extracts. Stir until smooth.
Heat a grill pan over medium heat. Spread 1/2 teaspoon of butter on the bottom of 4 slices of ciabatta bread.
Place bread buttered side down on grill pan. Spread 1/4 cup of ricotta mixture over the bread and top with 2 teaspoons mini chocolate chips.
Place a slice of bread on top; butter the bread that is facing up.
Grill sandwiches for 3-4 minutes per side or until golden and toasted and chocolate is slightly melty.