Tiny Italian flag toothpicks (sadly) not included.
It starts with thin slices of a dense white bread, like a country loaf. You don't want bread with big air holes in the crumb, or your filling may just seep right out. One of the defining characteristics of this grilled-cheese method is that the bread is toasted on both sides. Here, I toast it in olive oil instead of butter, since olive oil's flavor makes more sense with these Italian fillings.
Now, generally, this method advocates toasting the bread on one side, then flipping the slices, adding the fillings, and finishing the sandwiches in the pan. If all goes well, the exterior of the bread is perfectly toasted at the same time that the cheese inside is fully melted. That's pretty easy to accomplish when it's a basic grilled cheese with sliced American, but my sandwiches are stuffed with more ingredients, and timing the exterior to brown as the interior melts is harder.
The solution is to toast the individual bread slices on both sides first, then build the sandwiches and finish them in a preheated oven. It's a slightly more restaurant-y way of executing the process, but I think it yields more consistent results. You could pop the sandwiches in a toaster oven, too, which will heat faster than a full-size oven.
As for the fillings? I start by spreading minced anchovy fillets all over half of the toasts, then layer on the mozzarella, pesto, thinly sliced marinated artichoke hearts, and mortadella before closing the sandwiches. All those extra ingredients are key, since the mozzarella itself is so mild. You get a whiff of pork, the salty punch of anchovies, herbal pesto, and tart marinated artichokes. The mozzarella is really there for its melted texture and clean, blank-canvas flavor.
I figure, if I'm going to live a non-vegan life by eating dairy, meat, and fish, I should at least go all out.
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