Even though I had read the book previously, I decided to re-read it, or at least certain parts I had forgotten. I was re-reading one of my favorite parts (the “Mitch” era) when I happened upon Giulia’s recipe for mozzarella en carozza, or “Italian Grilled Cheese for Teenage WASPs.” Mozzarella en carozza literally means ‘mozzarella in a carriage’ and the carriage is the bread. Cute, right?

Mitch was a recovering alcoholic who really was totally unimpressed with food, unless it was simple (like spaghetti with butter and parmesan or… well, grilled cheese). I am neither a recovering alcoholic nor am I unimpressed with food- quite the contrary. I’m a bit over-impressed with food. As in, I’m so impressed, I eat and eat and eat… and in Jay, I’ve found someone who enjoys that as much as I do. Which can be dangerous, for my waistline anyway. And it was, thankfully I’ve dropped all the weight I gained during our first few years together in our journeys through every restaurant in Long Island (and some in New Jersey and Manhattan).

Anyway, tonight I wasn’t all that hungry (unusual for me, if you know me you know I can out-eat most men twice my size… or at the very least, keep up with them), and I have a LOT of baking/preparing to do for Thanksgiving, so I wanted something light and quick. I decided that the Italian grilled cheese was perfect. I switched it up a bit from Giulia’s recipe, which is actually more along the lines of a hybrid of French toast and a croque monsieur. I made mine more like a regular grilled cheese, however. Giulia uses Italian bread in her recipe, I used Wonder bread (I know, I know). I spread some minced garlic and drizzled a bit of olive oil on two slices. Then I put some mozzarella on one of them, flipped the other slice over so the garlic side faced the cheese, and grilled it in a skillet in some olive oil. I also used some marinara sauce in a little bowl to dip it in, because I am of the school of thought that bread + cheese is always better with marinara or some kind of tomato/tomato sauce. Oh- and garlic (like Brianne said the other day).

Italian Grilled Cheese for Teenage WASPs

• Olive oil
• Italian bread, or even a French baguette (1 to 2 days old is fine), thinly sliced
• Mozzarella, thinly sliced (this may have been sitting around a couple of days, too)
• 1 to 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Make little sandwiches with the bread and cheese and dip in the egg. When the olive oil is hot, slip in the sandwiches (you may insert a toothpick in each for the cooking if you find they are falling apart) and cook until golden on both sides and cheese is melted. Press with a kettle or pot full of water to flatten (if you’ve used toothpicks, remove them when the cheese is melted and has glued everything together).

Yield: 1 loaf of bread makes 8-12 sandwiches.

I thought this was so easy and yet so good. Even if I had made mine with the egg, I’d probably have used the garlic as well. It really adds a little something extra. You could make so many variations on this theme- add ham, or chicken, or turkey. Add mushrooms, use a different kind of cheese… etc, etc. It’s a great basic staple recipe you can build on. No wonder why Mitch liked it so much!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone reading this. Enjoy your day, enjoy your family, eat a lot of food and think of us!