Name: Pear-Walnut-Gorgonzola Grilled Cheese
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 10 ounces Gorgonzola cheese; 1 1/3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese; 16 slices cinnamon-raisin bread; 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter , melted; 1/2 cup honey; 1/2 cup toasted, chopped walnuts; 2 pears , sliced

Why This Recipe Works

To jump-start cooking and crisping our Pear-Walnut-Gorgonzola Grilled Cheese Sandwiches for a Crowd, we let the baking sheet preheat in the oven before cooking the sandwiches. When it came to the cheese, we found gorgonzola was full of flavor, but didn’t melt as readily as other cheeses. When we combined it with easy-melting Monterey Jack, we found the perfect combination of flavor and texture. Shredding or crumbling the cheeses also helped them to melt faster. We didn’t have a panini press large enough to accommodate eight sandwiches, so we made our own makeshift one using a Dutch oven.

Before You Begin

You’ll need two rimmed baking sheets for this recipe, or see the step by step "Plan B" (below).

Instructions

PREHEAT BAKING SHEETS Adjust oven racks to middle and lower-middle positions. Place 1 baking sheet on each rack and heat oven to 450 degrees.

ASSEMBLE SANDWICHES Combine cheeses in bowl. Brush one side of each slice of bread with melted butter. Spread each sandwich with 1 tablespoon honey, then layer with 1/4 cup cheese, 1 tablespoon walnuts, a few pear slices, and additional 1/4 cup cheese. Cover with remaining bread slices, buttered side up, and press down gently.

BAKE SANDWICHES Remove hot baking sheets from oven and place on cooling rack. Arrange sandwiches on 1 sheet. Return to middle rack of oven, and carefully place second sheet over sandwiches, rim side up. Bake sandwiches until golden, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove top baking sheet and transfer sheet with sandwiches to cooling rack. Serve.