Green Goddess Grilled Cheese

Ingredients

2 slices bread (we used a white bread, but one filled with lots of different whole grains and seeds would be *awesome*)
2-3 tablespoons Green Goddess Herb Pesto (recipe below)
2 slices mild white melty cheese like mozzarella
handful fresh baby spinach
¼ avocado, sliced
2 tablespoons goat cheese, crumbled
olive oil (and butter if you’re so inclined)

Directions

Spread about 1 tablespoon of Green Goddess Herb Pesto onto each slice of bread (2 tablespoons total, but if you’re sensitive, go light, the pesto is STRONG).

On one slice of bread, add 1 slice of cheese, sliced avocado, crumbled goat cheese, spinach, second slice of cheese, then top it with second slice of bread. Press together gently.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan over medium low heat. (If you want to use butter, add it to the oil and let it melt). Add the sandwich to the oil and cook until bread is golden brown. Press down on the sandwich lightly, then flip the sandwich over and cook until second side is golden brown.

PESTO:

• 4 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/3 cup roasted pine nuts (pignolias)
• 2 garlic cloves (roasted)
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Start by adding your basil to the bowl of a food processor. If you have a good, heavy-duty mixer you can try to use that, but I much prefer a food processor. 

Add your toasted pine nuts. Speaking of substitutions, you can replace the pine nuts with almonds (a common Sicilian variation) or even walnuts. I personally love the smooth, rich, buttery taste the pine nuts add, but if you find that you're out, you can substitute other nuts with good results.

Now add those peeled garlic cloves..

...the olive oil...

...and the lemon juice--freshly squeezed, please! The beauty of pesto is that it is so simple, all of the flavors shine through, so you want to use the best and the freshest ingredients you can.

Now start blending the pesto together, pulsing it in 5- to 10-second bursts. At first it will be pretty chunky, with bits of unincorporated nuts and garlic, and stringy pieces of basil leaves.

Continue to pulse and blend, and you will see your texture growing less chunky and more smooth. If you are having trouble getting things to blend evenly, you can add a spoonful or two of water or oil to help smooth things out.

Stop when your pesto is your preferred texture. Some people like to leave it a little chunky, with discrete pieces of leaves, but I prefer a smoother texture, closer to a sauce.

Finally, add your grated Parmesan cheese, and pulse the processor again until the cheese is entirely mixed in.

Taste the pesto, and if you think it needs salt and pepper, add it a little bit at the time, to taste, until you're happy with it. The Parmesan cheese adds quite a bit of salt, so you many not even need to add any to suit your taste.

Your pesto sauce is now finished! My favorite way to enjoy this is simply tossed with hot pasta--try sprinkling some extra Parmesan and pine nuts on top of the pasta for an extra flavor boost. This pesto sauce is also incredible as a dipping sauce, a sandwich spread, or a chicken marinade. You can use it anytime you want to add the fresh taste of summer to your meals.