Grilled Ciabatta Sandwiches

Yesterday was a busy day!  We were up early for Nick's hockey game, then I hit the gym for some cardio and came home wondering what I could do quick for lunch before diving into the millions of other things I had to do on a Sunday.  I love a simple grilled cheese, but then after looking thru the fridge, realized I had some other cool ingredients for some more "interesting" grilled sandwiches!  I came up with 2 variations: Italian Meat & Mozza and Spicy Pear & Brie.  Both were delicious - here's how I did it:

Italian Meat & Mozza (makes 2 sandwiches)
Ingredients:
4 thin slices ciabatta bread, buttered on both sides
4 thin slices deli ham
2 slices hot genoa salami, cut in half
enough slices of mozzarella cheese to cover the sandwich
marinara or pizza sauce for dipping sandwiches into
more butter for skillet

Spicy Pear & Brie (makes 2 sandwiches)
Ingredients:
4 thin slices ciabatta bread, buttered on both sides
1/2 pear, thinly sliced - make it fit your bread
enough thin wedges of brie to cover bread
small amount of Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly - or any other spicy jelly you have - also fig jelly would have also been awesome on this sandwich!
more butter for skillet

Method:
I'm not going to lie - to make these grilled sandwiches, you really should bust out the butter in large quantities!!  Heck, I went to the gym - I figured I could afford the extra cals anyways!

Start by heating a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Melt butter - be patient and melt it slowly rather than risk scorching the butter!  Assemble your sandwiches.

check out the mini brie's from Costco!!

Start cooking in small batches depending on your skillet size - as with anything, you don't want to crowd the pan! Start with the side closest to the cheese side down - does that make sense?  Grill the sandwiches till each side is nice and golden brown.  You may even want to add a wee bit more butter in between the sandwiches - live dangerously - a little butter never killed anyone!  Remove from the pan and let rest for a bit before serving.