The Easiest Way To Improve A Cheese Sandwich? A Schmear Of Ricotta.

Jess Kapadia•

I wish I had a good story to go along with my good idea today, but this sandwich enhancement is so simple and awesome I can't even work it into an anecdote. Suffice it to say, I was in need of a grilled cheese sandwich at 2 a.m. Saturday and thought I'd put all the cheese in my fridge into this creation in some manner or another, then weight the thing down with something so all the various cheeses melted together and I could finally go to bed. Cause remember, it was basically the middle of the night.

Far be it from me to do something half-assed. I spread the last few spoonfuls of ricotta I thoughtfully left myself in the bottom of the container on each slice of bread before loading the rest of the party into the bus and let a foil-wrapped brick and gravity do the rest. That is one useful hunk of refuse, that brick. My theory is that the moisture from the ricotta provided a little steam that allowed the cheese to melt more quickly. My lack of theory caused me to eat a loaded grilled cheese sandwich, then sleep for 10 hours with that thing in my stomach.

But the bigger lesson I learned was that any sandwich that involves cheese can be improved with a schmear of ricotta. Its mild flavor doesn't compete with any of the other ingredients, it just makes it a little richer and you can say your sandwich contains two kinds of cheese. Ricotta beats the hell out of mayo flavorwise, and can be dolled up with some coarsely ground black pepper, smashed-up anchovy, chili flakes, fresh herbs, even finely ground parmesan (heyyo, you just found a way to get parmesan onto your sandwich non-awkwardly). Or try these on for size:

And here is some grilled cheese porn to further inspire you.

More sandwiches for lunch on Food Republic:

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