Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I have a number of skills, but sleeping isn't one of them; anyone who checks emails that I send will see that time stamps can range from 12-4 a.m., which is when I can be very productive since I'm unfortunately not unconscious.  So occasionally I sit down in my favorite comfy chair and doze off when the sleep deprivation catches up with me. Not good, especially when deadlines are looming and I have a lot of work to do some evenings.  Gotta keep moving, to stave off the naps!

But one evening, it was inevitable; I'd been up in the middle of the night for several rounds in succession. However, instead of bemoaning my lack of productivity, for once this was actually inspiring! I woke up with the proverbial start, and immediately a notion flashed in my brain: pizza grilled cheese sandwich. I had bread ... I had marinara sauce I'd bought on sale at the grocery store (not my usual m.o., but apparently I was piecing this together unconsciously before it rose to the surface) ... I had both Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses ... oooh. Dinner!

I debated whether to make a cheese sandwich and then offer a dipping sauce, in a riff on the pairing with tomato soup - one of the great culinary combinations ever! But I decided to go for the full ooey-gooey factor and schmear the sauce onto the bread with a generous helping of cheese. It's not pretty, but you already know it was rich and melty and fabulous! Grilled cheese isn't supposed to be proper and tidy, after all.

I kinda feel like I've seen this before, so I'm not claiming that this is my own divinely-inspired creation. But in doing a very brief search, I'm not seeing it anywhere else, either. So I offer it as my post-doze epiphany, but also offer apologies if it turns out that I'm absconding with someone else's brilliance.

I'll also apologize for the vagueness of the directions; they're more guidance then precise instruction. We all know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich, after all! So I didn't measure anything, I just dipped and swiped and schmeared and plopped and grilled ... and devoured ... :)

Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwich

• 4 slices bread
• butter, at room temperature
• marinara sauce
• shredded Mozzarella cheese
• shredded Parmesan cheese

Lay the bread slices on the countertop and schmear one side of each slice with some of the butter. Place 2 slices butter-side down in a large skillet. Spread some marinara sauce onto each slice of bread, then top with the cheeses. Drizzle a bit more sauce on top, then cover with the remaining bread slices butter-side up.

Cook over medium heat until the underside is golden brown, then carefully flip and cook until both sides are toasted. Cut, eat, enjoy!

Makes 2 sandwiches, serving 1 or 2 people. It's good, you might want seconds ....