Giada De Laurentiis Adds Lemon To A Sandwich You Never Knew Needed It

Celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis has a gift of making everything she attempts look breezy and almost as if it took no effort at all. You can practically feel the Amalfi coast breeze and la dolce vita pulsing through the screen when you watch her prepare food on shows like "Giada Entertains." If there were smell-o-vision, you might have even be able to catch a whiff of lemons in the air. That bright citrus aroma livens up many dishes in De Laurentiis' kitchen, but you might not have considered one home for it to land on: your grilled cheese sandwich.

When De Laurentiis was planning her Taste of Capri menu for a "Giada Entertains" episode, she really wanted to highlight her passion for this citrus, which is somewhat of an unofficial symbol of the area. "In Capri they try to use lemons in everything, and what I love about a grilled cheese is that cheesy, melty texture, but it tastes so much better and even lighter when you give it a little punch of citrus," she told Food Network. And no, she doesn't just squeeze some lemon juice on top of the sandwich. While grilling lemons is a known flavor game-changer, De Laurentiis flips the script by adding lemon slices — un-grilled and marinated in a bit of sugar — along with the cheese inside this ubiquitous grilled sandwich.

While grilled cheese is almost synonymous with comfort food, it can become a bit one-note or feel overly heavy. This isn't the case with Giada De Laurentiis' version, which swaps out heavier cheeses like cheddar for fresh mozzarella and thin slices of lemon for an unexpected but pleasing tang. As lemons can veer towards the acidic, she recommends sprinkling them with sugar first. Then these lemon slices are sandwiched with the fresh mozzarella in between slices of your favorite fresh bread.

For warm and gooey toasted results, De Laurentiis urges liberally coating the exterior of the bread with butter before it hits the heat. In true De Laurentiis style, the melting of her lemon grilled cheese comes with an additional flourish: "take some Parmesan and make the Parmesan stick to the butter so you get a cheesy, buttery crust on the outside of the bread," she tells Food Network. The resulting sandwich is transporting. The grilled cheese is crisp and golden on the outside, and utterly cheesy with a welcome sweet-tart lemon lift on the inside. This pleasing snack or lunch fits squarely with De Laurentiis' philosophy to use fresh, quality ingredients for home-cooking ... plane ticket to Amalfi optional.