Air-Fryer Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (With Bacon and Tomato)

The grilled cheese sandwich is so universal that arguing for any single "correct" version is a fool's errand. There are people who believe the right cheese is American singles; people who believe the right bread is white sandwich bread; people who believe mayo-on-the-outside beats butter-on-the-outside. All of these people are right, in the same way that there is no wrong way to order coffee.

The version pictured here is one specific direction within that spectrum: sourdough bread, sharp cheddar plus melting mozzarella (or fontina), a thick slice of tomato, three strips of crispy bacon. Butter on the outside, not mayo. Cooked in the air fryer because — and this is the part the skillet can't match — the heat hits both sides at the same time, so the bread browns evenly without you watching it. You walk in 5 minutes after putting it in the basket and find a sandwich that looks like the photo: stacked in a three-high tower, deeply golden crust, cheese spilling out the sides, the tomato just barely visible under the orange ooze.

The photo's plating is unfussy — a wooden cutting board, a piece of butcher paper, a pickle spear on the side, a bottle of San Pellegrino just out of focus in the background. This is what weekday lunch looks like when you want it to feel slightly elevated.

A note on cheese: the magic ratio is one melty cheese (mozzarella, fontina, monterey jack) plus one flavour cheese (sharp cheddar, gruyere, aged provolone). Two melty cheeses gets you texture but no flavour. Two flavour cheeses gets you flavour but a gritty sandwich. The combination is the answer.