Grilled cheese with roasted garlic bean spread

grilled cheese // a little gathering

This is not any grilled cheese, it's one with roasted garlic bean spread! Roasted garlic does not get as much love as it should because, well, it takes some time.

Whizzed together with white beans, you have a killer dip or you can do what I did and add it to grilled cheese. In college one of our dining halls offered provolone grilled cheeses and it totally works here with the garlicky bean spread. The arugula is there for color, but I think the peppery bite adds something extra too.

The key to a grilled cheese is to butter the outside of your bread so it gets crispy-crispy! Enjoy this one.

grilled cheese // a little gathering
grilled cheese // a little gathering
grilled cheese // a little gathering

Grilled cheese w/ roasted garlic bean spread

for the garlic bean spread //

  • 6-7 whole garlic cloves

  • 2-3 sprigs thyme

  • dash of olive oil and salt

  • 1 15.5 oz. can of white beans, rinsed

for assembling (per grilled cheese) // 

  • 2 slices of white bread

  • 1/2 cup of arugula

  • 2 slices of provolone

  1. First preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

  2. Now you get to roast the garlic. Create a foil pocket, wrapping up the garlic cloves + thyme in the foil. You'll want to add some olive oil + salt to this packet before popping it in the oven for ~40 minutes until soft.

  3. Once roasted, remove the thyme sprigs from the foil. Whiz up everything in the packet with the white beans in a food processor. Hey, you made garlic bean spread! Taste for seasoning, you might want to add some Sriracha sauce if you like spicy spreads.

  4. To assemble the grilled cheese, coat the outside of each piece of bread with butter. Slather one of the other sides with the garlic bean spread. Layer on the arugula + the slices of provolone.

  5. Now it's the fun part, toasting + melting the grilled cheese. You may want to add additional butter to a frying pan, then toast each side of the grilled cheese until it's golden brown + the cheese is melted. Enjoy this one! Don't share.