When Kiddies Cry for Pizza

Friday, the traditional pizza night in families everywhere. Until you talk to individuals. When the kids came home Friday afternoon, my son raised the question of why we don't have a weekly pizza night in the hope of us ordering pizza that night. I refused, but by this time all four of us were craving pizza. I didn't want to spend any more money on that week of shopping, let alone ordering pizza, and I certainly didn't want the calories. So I took the basic flavors of pizza and created this sandwich. It's not pizza, it's better. My littlest picked out some of the veg, but it was all very well hidden inside and went over with the family pretty well.

Roasted Veg Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients

4 heaping spoonfuls of roasted tomato pieces (or use whole, canned tomatoes chopped up finely without any of the liquid from the can)

1 onion (minced and sauteed)

2 cloves garlic (finely sliced and sauteed)

8 roasted bell pepper strips (see separate recipe)

8 slices of bread

pre-shredded low fat mozzarella cheese

1 lemon

a dash of oregano

1/2 jalapeno pepper

a bunch or two of herbage (optional)

olive oil

Run your knife through the prepared veg (tomatoes, onion, garlic, and bell peppers). The trick to hiding them is how finely they are chopped. It should be like a thick, chunky sauce. Squeeze the juice of your lemon into the bowl and add the oregano. Stir to combine. Cut the jalapeno in halve (not stem-wise, but through the middle of the pepper) and grate it on a micro plane for very fine bits of jalapeno until you have about a teaspoon.  Run your knife through your fresh herbs, if you're using them. Stir this and the jalapeno into the marinating veg.

In a hot, non-stick pan, pour in a little olive oil. Press the first slice of bread in and sprinkle a little cheese on the top. Spread some marinated veg corner to corner to fill the whole sandwich. sprinkle on a little more cheese and top with another piece of bread. Press down on the sandwich while it cooks. When the bottom slice of bread is browned to your liking, flip the sandwich (you may wish to use a plate to help, sliding it out of the pan and flipping it back in). Add a little more oil around the bread. Continue pressing on the sandwich until it's browned. After this fist sandwich, repeat this paragraph on following ones unless you have a larger pan than I and can cook two or three at a time. Keep the sandwiches warm in the oven as you go and serve them with a salad or some fruit.