Bikini Pizza with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

• Recipe by Ferran Adria

Bikini, the Catalan term for grilled cheese sandwiches with ham, are a favorite snack in Barcelona. Adrià loves these sandwiches, which is rather astonishing for an experimental Spanish chef to admit. He makes his hamless version with a tasty mix of mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and basil, and calls them pizzas.

Ingredients

1. 8 slices sourdough bread
2. 1/2 pound buffalo mozzarella, drained well and thinly sliced
3. 1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained, plus 4 teaspoons oil reserved from the jar
4. 4 small white mushrooms, thinly sliced
5. 4 large basil leaves
6. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Arrange 4 slices of the sourdough bread on a work surface and top with mozzarella. Cover with the sun-dried tomatoes and the mushrooms. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of the tomato oil over each sandwich and top with a basil leaf. Close the sandwiches.
2. Heat a griddle. Brush the sandwiches with the olive oil, transfer to the griddle and weight them down with a heavy pan. Cook over moderate heat, turning once, until the bread is golden and the cheese is melted, about 9 minutes total. Cut into pieces and serve right away.