Recipe: Grilled Pear and Gouda Sandwich

Blatantly I'm becoming obsessed with grilled cheese sandwiches.  But I can't seem to help myself. They are delicious (if one loves cheese) and pair well with countless other ingredients, including completely surprising ingredients like fruit.
This was such a light but delicious combination for a grilled cheese sandwich.  The gouda was mild in flavor and melted beautifully while the pear incredibly crisp yet not overly sweet. I think the pears would work well with other stronger cheeses as well like gorgonzola.

Ingredients:
2 slices of bread
butter
1 pear
gouda cheese
basil
salt and pepper to taste

Thinly slice your gouda and layer it on both pieces of bread. Make sure there are no gaps, you want cheesey goodness in every bite. Make the layer as thick or thin as you like. I like lots of cheese so my layer of gouda was pretty thick.

Then melt your butter in a pan over low heat and add your bread. Keep a close eye on the bread so it
doesn't burn but in the meantime thinly slice your pears and place on the gouda. I used 3/4 of a medium pear and then ate the rest of the pear as a snack.
Let the cheese melt evenly and sprinkle with basil, salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from the heat, close the sandwich and eat while warm.
The cheese will be melted and gooey while the pears will remain crisp and sweet with the bread toasted and buttery.  The salt, pepper and basil really add some nice warmth to the sandwich, so I hope you enjoy!

Loved this presentation to see the layers of delicious!