The Nancy Silverton Rule To Know Before You Ever Cook Grilled Cheese Again

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We've seen the humble grilled cheese evolve through the years, with special condiments for added creaminess, upgraded grilled cheese sandwiches with charred sweet summer corn, and unusual ingredients that take this classic to another stratosphere. But for a back-to-basics 'wich, you can't go past the godmother of grilled cheese sandwiches, Nancy Silverton, and her take on the classic comfort food. In the late '90s, the James Beard Award-winner took the unassuming lunch food and made it a must-eat on the L.A. food scene. Again in 2019, she brought back grilled cheese nights to her trendy Italian outpost Pizzeria Mozza.

There's one key step in Silverton's method that many of us probably skip: Using a wide spatula or grill weight. She starts cooking the two halves of her sandwich open-faced. After she combines the two sides into a whole sandwich, she puts weight on the sandwich to ensure even toasting. (Check out this well-reviewed, well-priced Lodge Cast-Iron Grill Press if you need to add one to your kitchenware.) Alternatively, you can press it down with a wide spatula. Silverton cooks the sandwich for two to three minutes, then flips it for another couple of minutes, but without the weight on after the flip. And voilà, a sandwich that is evenly toasted without bread that's all over the doneness spectrum.

Nancy Silverton is a generous chef who shares her secrets for making a drool-worthy grilled cheese sandwich. The award-winning kitchen maestro is particular about her ingredients, though they aren't complicated. She recommends a crusty loaf of bread, and is partial to sourdough from her La Brea Bakery in L.A. When it comes to the best cheeses for your grilled cheese sandwich, Silverton's picks are a trio of the best cheeses for melting: White and yellow cheddar, and gruyère. She brushes the outsides of the bread with ghee (clarified butter), and pre-heats a cast-iron griddle or pan.

She starts with an open-faced sandwich, so each half is ghee-side down with the open, cheesy sides up. She places a metal bowl over the top and sprays in a bit of water to add steam and help speed up the melting process. This is a particularly handy tip for avoiding bread that's starting to char and cheese that's still solid. Then she joins the two halves together and follows with the grill weight, as described above. And that simple extra step elevates the sometimes uneven grilled cheese to evenly-toasted perfection.