Autumn Turkey Apple Cranberry Melt

Fall is hands down my favorite time of year, I love everything about it: the crisp air, changing leaves, Halloween, and most of all, fall flavors!! I know its only September, and some places, like here in Virginia, Autumn temperatures are still slowly beating out the 80 degree days, but I am ready! Expect lots of fall-inspired recipes from me over the next couple months – sorry, I’m really not sorry 😉

This melt combines some of my favorite fall ingredients, especially smoked turkey, apple and cranberries. Every year for Thanksgiving we make cranberry brie bites for an appetizer, and I look forward to it every year. I decided to take that concept and make a melty, crispy turkey sandwich.

This dish can easily be made vegetarian by omitting the turkey and adding more cranberries and goat cheese. If you’re not a fan of goat cheese, try another soft cheese like brie, havarti or smoked gouda.

What You’ll Need

For this melt, you’ll need bread, apples, cranberries, sliced turkey (I used smoked turkey), goat cheese, olive oil and garlic salt. You can use any type of sliced bread, but, like in my Grilled Cheese, I like to use some kind of “artisan” bread, like the sourdough pictured below.

Getting Started

First, thinly slice the apples and crumble or slice the goat cheese. Goat cheese can be difficult to cut, I find it works best to wipe your knife off between slices and slice the cheese when it’s cold.

Mix the garlic salt and olive oil in a shallow dish, then dip one side of each slice of bread into the mix, adding more olive oil and garlic salt as needed. Make sure to fully coat one side of the bread to ensure a nice even crisp.

Assemble and Grill the Sandwiches

Place one slice of bread oil side down on a griddle or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. I use my panini press, opened flat. Layer the goat cheese, cranberries, turkey, then more goat cheese, and finally apple slices. Top with another slice of bread, oil side up. Repeat for however many sandwiches you plan to make.

After a few minutes, gently lift the sandwich to see how toasted the bottom is. Once the bottom is toasted to your desired done-ness, very gently flip the sandwich.

Once both sides are fully toasted, remove from the pan and slice in half. Serve immediately.

Autumn Turkey Apple Cranberry Melt

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

8 slices of bread, 2 slices per sandwich (I like to use sourdough)
1/4-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 pound smoked turkey breast, sliced
8 ounces goat cheese
2 gala apples
1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries.

Instructions

Thinly slice the apples and crumble or slice the goat cheese. Goat cheese can be difficult to cut, I find it works best to wipe your knife off between slices and slice the cheese when it’s cold.
Mix the garlic salt and olive oil in a shallow dish, then dip one side of each slice of bread into the mix, adding more olive oil and garlic salt as needed. Make sure to fully coat one side of the bread to ensure a nice even crisp.
Place one slice of bread oil side down on a griddle or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. I use my panini press, opened flat. Layer the goat cheese, cranberries, turkey, then more goat cheese, and finally apple slices. Top with another slice of bread, oil side up. Repeat for the remaining sandwiches.
After a few minutes, gently lift the sandwich to see how toasted the bottom is. Once the bottom is toasted to your desired done-ness, very gently flip the sandwich.
Once both sides are fully toasted, remove from the pan and slice in half. Serve immediately.