caprese grilled cheese

Summer is coming to an end, which means we are closer to cool weather and football, but it also means the end of summer tomatoes. It’s a tragedy, really.

We’ve been attempting to find as many different ways to work them into our foods to enjoy some of the last goodness of summer. In our book, you can never have too many tomatoes.

The other week we were at a vineyard picnicking with our friends and they brought the fixings for an incredible cheese spread.

It was all the amazing things we could possibly get our hands on, along with the makings for a caprese salad. It was great. We simply stabbed everything with a toothpick dipped it in balsamic vinegar and ate to our hearts’ content. Sometimes, we’re fancy like that.

This got us thinking that we should use some of the last of our tomatoes, and combine it with a classic take on the grilled cheese. It’s like a staple of life that has so many possibilities when tuned to a fine art, we get excited.

Next up: a grilled cheese bar. Kidding not kidding. {You know how we are about our food bars. Everything’s better in a bar.}

So we decided to make a caprese grilled cheese. If you’ve never attempted this, try it.

Your taste buds will thank you.

Here is what you need:

• We use seeded whole wheat bread • fresh mozzarella slices • fresh ripe tomatoes • fresh basil leaves • balsamic vinegar • butter {or extra virgin olive oil}

First simply butter, or spread a little olive oil, over one slice of bread.

Next, flip it over and spread some balsamic vinegar on the other side.

Layer it with cheese, tomato and shreds of basil leaves, then add a little more balsamic vinegar.

You’ll also want to butter the second piece of bread {and add a little balsamic vinegar to it as well}.

Grill everything on a low heat, allowing the cheese to melt around it. It takes a little longer than your staple grilled cheese because of the low heat, but it’s worth the wait.