Goulish Balsamic Onion and Pear Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

I am horrible, yes I am fully aware! But I have a great excuse - my life has been chaos. Work has been hectic, I'm trying to lose another 6 pounds and I'm pretty sure I'm functioning on about 4 hours' sleep per night. It's not been great, as you can probably tell. But I won't let that bring me down! It's the beginning of the holiday season (just think about that a moment, do you already feel behind?), it's my favorite month and Raleigh finally got the fall weather memo so all-in-all things are looking up!


I made this meal on Wednesday of last week and I am still drooling about the flavors! It was elevated comfort food, which is really the best type of food. So let's get to it, shall we? I adapted this recipe from The Happy Cook cookbook by Daphne Oz and I must say I was impressed by the ease of the recipe and just how delicious everything was!


Goulish Balsamic Onion and Pear Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

1 Tbsp butter
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced into rings
1/4 Tsp salt
Freshly cracked pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
4 slices whole wheat or multi-grain bread (I used Fit&Active 45 Calorie Multi-Grain)
2 Tbsp mayonnaise, room temperature
1 C cheese, grated (I used a Transylvania Cave Cheese soaked in red wine)
1 semi-ripe pear, peeled, cored and thinly sliced


Melt the glorious butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions and allow to soften for 8-10 minutes. I personally like when onions are slightly burnt so I let mine go a little longer.


Season with salt and stir in the vinegar and sugar. The idea is to let the vinegar get syrup-y and coat the onions (I'd eat this by itself if we're being honest here). Remove from the pan and set aside. Wipe out the skillet with a moist paper towel and replace on the burner over medium heat.


Spread 1 side of each slice of bread with the mayonnaise (not sure why...but this creates a better crust than the typical buttering method of grilled cheese-making). Place the mayo-side down in the pan and top with 1/4 C of the grated cheese, half of the onions, half of the pear slices, top with 1/4 C of cheese and top with another slice of bread mayo-side up. Repeat with remaining ingredients.


Cover the skillet with a lid and allow the cheese to melt and bread to crisp for 5 minutes. Flip and repeat.


The onions were succulent and acidic, the pears added a meaty-bite and the cheese was phenomenal! The Transylvania Cave Cheese was salty like a parmesan with the perfect richness from the wine ah! It was great and I should've bought more than one block. And the crust on the bread was the perfect combination of greasy and crunchy (in all the best ways).


I enjoyed this sandwich with a bowl of Well Yes! Cambell's Tomato Carrot Bisque (of course topped with more cave cheese). Nothing like a grown-up classic of a childhood favorite meal to lift your spirits, eh?


Tonight I'm making Posole in the Crock Pot so I'll report back on how that goes. Happy Monday, readers!