Turkey and Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

You know what is an awesome, unexpected addition to a grilled cheese? Apples! A little random, I know, but it is apple season after all. I'm not totally sure what inspired this sandwich, other than the abundance of apples at the grocery store and the brie in my fridge. I was just going to eat the apples and brie on their own, but why not put them in between some bread. 

I made one version of this sandwich with brie and another, for my husband, with cheddar. If you don't like brie or cheddar (um, you are crazy!), you can make this sandwich with any cheese that pairs well with cheese (Munster, white cheddar, Gouda, blue cheese).

The key to a good grilled cheese sandwich is butter. I like to make sure that my pan is heavily coated in butter before toasting the bread. I'm already eating a grilled cheese sandwich, why should I be worried about a few extra calories. 

Once the bread is nice and warm, I layer on the cheese and other toppings, in this case apples and turkey. When the cheese starts so get a bit melted, I put the two sides together. To help the cheese along, I will sometimes cover the pan until the cheese starts to ooze out the sides. 

This sandwich would also be excellent as a panini! Just be careful if you make it with brie, because that brie will be melted all over the place. Not that there is anything wrong with that. 

So if you are looking to mix up your grilled cheese sandwich, add a few slices of apple. It adds a little bit of a crunch and some sweetness to balance the salty from the cheese. At the very least, I am pretty sure adding apple slices qualifies this sandwich as health food. That's how it works right?

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Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes   Cook Time: 10 minutes    Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 2 sandwiches

Ingredients

• 2 tsp butter
• 4 slices of bread
• 2 oz cheddar, sliced
• 2 oz brie, sliced
• 4-8 oz turkey, sliced
• 1/4 apple, sliced thinly

Instructions

1. In a pan over medium high heat, melt 1 tsp butter and spread it around the pan. Place 2 slices of bread on the pan. Let toast for 30 seconds, then place cheddar on both slices of bread.
2. On one piece of bread, layer on half of the apple slices. On the other, layer on half the turkey. Once cheese has started to melt a bit, put one half of the sandwich face down on the other.
3. Continue to toast the bread, flipping half way through, until cheese has started to ooze out of the side.
4. Repeat with brie and rest of the ingredients.
5. Cut in half and serve with chips and apple slices.