Grilled ham and cheese...with flare

Rather than your regular old grilled ham and cheese sandwich ,which gets trotted out for lunch once in awhile, we were looking for something a bit more exotic this weekend. On our trip to the Italian deli, we found exactly what we were looking for with Spanish ingredients.

Manchego cheese - a sheeps milk cheese with lots of flavour. I could devour this all in one sitting, but have to make the chunk last for at least a week. And what better bed partner than serrano ham. Similar to Proscuitto, this salty ham is sliced very thin and is delicious on it's own or as part of the sandwich.

And really, this is just an excuse to bust out the panini maker on a Sunday afternoon. Best investment ever - if you like grilled sandwiches. Other ways of obtaining the perfectly pressed sandwich - a George Foreman grill (or similar lesser known boxer supported grilling machines), or in a pinch put the sandwich in a pan and press down with another pan on top.

Cathy's spanish grilled ham and cheese sandwich

2 slices of whole wheat bread (or sourdough if you have it)

thinly sliced manchego cheese and serrano ham

Layer cheese, ham, cheese. Butter both of the outside sides of the bread and grill. Watch your panini maker though - they only take about 3 minutes and then they burn.