Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwich

In the summer my parents have a basil plant, or rather a basil bush. I looked up various ways of preserving the leaves. I am aware that freezing them is a conventional method but I wanted to be able to take them with me to Morocco. I didn’t want to lose the texture (and pungency) so I opted not to dry them. I tried storing them with olive oil and salt in jars. I am happy to say that this method proved effective.

Ingredients:

2 slices of whole grain bread

Sliced turkey

Grated Romano

Basil (either fresh, frozen, or salt-stored. A bit of pesto would work too.)

Mozzarella

Garlic (generally fresh is better, but I used a pinch of garlic powder here)

Peperoncini

A bit of tomato paste

Olive oil

Fresh ground pepper

Salt (if not already added to basil)

Directions:

On one open face of the sandwich, put a few slices (thin) of turkey, chopped up basil, a chopped up peperocini or two and some grated Romano.

On the other open face, put a slice or two of turkey, some chunks of Mozzarella, pepper and garlic.

Smear on a bit of tomato paste on each face.

Place the open faced bread slices in a toaster over. Allow the cheese to melt, bubble and brown slightly. The underside of the slices of bread should toast as well.
Add salt to taste.

Close sandwich and enjoy with some olive oil.