Grilled cheese sandwich recipe with pecorino cheese and fava beans pesto, to celebrate May Day the Roman way

May Day in Rome is celebrated with picnics and rural eating: pecorino cheese, bread, fava beans (raw, peeled at the moment, with your hands) and local wine. As I’m a lover of grilled cheese sandwiches, I made up a recipe to celebrate my way :-).

a grilled Italian sandwich recipe with pecorino cheese and fava beans pesto, to celebrate May Day the Roman way

grilled cheese sandwich recipe with pecorino and fava beans

Course sandwich

Cuisine Italian

Servings 1

Author Claudia Rinaldi | Gourmet Project

Ingredients

Ingredients for each sandwich:

1.5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ shallot
½ teaspoon pure honey
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
0,7 oz peeled fava beans 20 gr
1 basil leaf
1 slice pecorino cheese
2 slices bread I used whole wheat bread
salt

Instructions

Peel and thinly slice the shallot.
Heat the olive oil in a small pan (medium/low heat), add the shallot and wait for the first bubbles. Add the honey and the vanilla extract. Turn the heat off, stir a little and set aside.
Place the fava beans, the basil leave and a pinch of salt in a grinder. Pulse for a few seconds: you want a rough pesto.
Thinly slice the pecorino cheese and place it over one of the bread slices, add the fava beans pesto, then the caramelized shallot (leave the oil in the pan).
Cover with the second slice of bread.
Heat the pan (with the liquids from the shallot, if necessary add a teaspoon of oil).
Place the sandwich in it, cover and grill 1-2 minutes per side (until the cheese melts).
Your Pecorino Grilled Cheese Sandwich is ready.