Baked Chicken Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

It's mid-October, and the weather is just going to get colder.  This means it's grilled cheese and tomato soup weather.  And boots weather.  But today we are going to talk grilled cheese.

The one thing that frustrates me about grilled cheese is that I have to grill them individually (depending on the size of your pan/griddle) so they rarely are ready all at once.  So I either serve the sandwiches separately so each person gets their sandwich piping hot, or everyone waits until all the sandwiches are ready and they are lukewarm by then.

Enter the Baked Grilled Cheese method!  I about fell off my chair when I read about this on AllRecipes.  Duh!  They are cooked all at once!  Out of the oven and served up hot all at once!  Even better, they are super fast, easy and the variation possibilities are endless!  As a full time working mama, I need some easy, fast, no-brainer meals to fall back on.  These sandwiches fit the bill!

This Chicken Pesto Grilled Cheese variation gets two thumbs up by my husband, and my 20-month old happily gobbles it up too.

Ingredients with very rough measurements:
Bread - 2 slices per sandwich
Butter/Margerine
Cheese - I've used Provalone and Mozzarella.  Sliced or grated works.  Two slices or small handfuls per slice of bread.
Rotisserie Chicken - Small handful per sandwich
Classico Traditional Basil Pesto Sauce & Spread
Baking Pan

Step 1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Step 2.  Butter one side of each piece of bread.  Lay bread butter-side-down on baking pan.

Step 3.  Open the Classico Traditional Basil Pesto Sauce & Spread and stir until mixed well.

Spread desired amount of Traditional Basil Pesto Sauce on the un-buttered side of the bread.  Note: A little of this stuff goes a long way.  Start with a small spoonful, and add based on preference.

Step 4.  Add cheese.  I was using shredded Mozzarella when taking these photos.  A single slice of cheese works fine too.

Step 5.  Add chopped chicken.  I used rotisserie chicken, but if you want to cook chicken breast and slice it up, that works too.  See -- so many variations!

Step 6.  Add another layer of cheese to cover the chicken.

Step 7.  Spread the Classico Traditional Basil Pesto mix on the other slice of bread (the non-buttered side) and place on top of the sandwich, buttered side up.

Step 8.  Place in your preheated oven and bake for 6 minutes.  After 6 minutes, flip sandwiches and bake for another 6 minutes.  Check them regularly on the second 6 minutes - my oven tends to start to burn the edges after 4 1/2 minutes on the second round.

Remove from oven and serve!  These kick your Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup nights up a notch!  Enjoy!