Lasagna Grilled Cheese |Cooking With Amanda

Lately I've been thinking about pasta and sandwiches. To be specific, I've been thinking of ways to marry my two loves. I've been dying to fry up a slab of mac and cheese and stuff it between two buttery toasted slices of bread. A fried mac and cheese sandwich, can you imagine? In my mind, pasta and sandwiches go together so perfectly. A good bread is always served alongside a good pasta dish, why not put two pieces of bread around a good pasta?

When the idea of a lasagna sandwich first came to mind, I must admit, I toyed with actually putting lasagna noodles in my sandwich. But unlike fried mac and cheese, an actual lasagna noodle sandwich seemed way too weird to me. However, a sandwich with lasagna FILLING sounded spectacular!!! I mean isn't the filling the best part of any lasagna dish?

I grabbed all my favorite lasagna fixings and got straight to work. For this sandwich I used mildly spicy Italian sausage, lots of cheese like Ricotta, Italian blend and of course Parmesan, marinara, fresh basil and a good sturdy Italian bread.

A note on the marinara; this is a great way to use up jarred marinara if you happen to have some in your fridge. Homemade sauce would work nicely too. My point is just use what you have at home. As far as the basil goes, dried basil will work in a pinch but fresh basil is best. It gives this sandwich a burst of color and a crisp fresh taste.

The result? Killer. That's what this sandwich is, a killer stand in for an all time favorite pasta dish. It's creamy, tangy, spicy, hot and melt-y. This pasta inspired grilled sandwich has me ready to go out and recreate all my pasta favorites. Watch out waistline, I just might make that fried mac and cheese after all!

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Lasagna Grilled Cheese Recipe

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Ingredients

4 slices italian bread
2 teaspoons butter
2 links italian sausage
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup italian cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
pinch of salt and pepper
4 fresh basil leaves
4 tablespoons marinara sauce

Directions

In a large skillet brown sausage links, crumbling them as they cook. Continue to cook sausage until no longer pink. In a small bowl, stir together ricotta cheese, shredded cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
Heat a grill pan over medium heat.
Butter one side of your Italian bread slices with 1/2 teaspoon of butter. Place two slices of bread buttered side down on hot grill pan.
Top with half of the sausage, half of the cheese mixture, 2 tablespoons of sauce and two basil leaves. Place remaining bread slice on top (buttered side facing up).
Brown bread for 2-3 minutes or until toasty and golden. Carefully flip sandwiches and brown second side for 2-3 minutes.
Serve immediately.