Toasted Panini

a toasted treat

Perhaps we are all not traveling to Italy this summer. But you can pretend you are on an Italian road trip. A panini is simply an Italian sandwich, and when it is toasted, it is such a good thing. If you have ever traveled in Italy and driven on the crazy Autostrade at ridiculous speeds, you may have stopped at one of the rest stops, an Autogrill. Inside there is food and there are refrigerator cases filled with cold sandwiches. And when you order a sandwich, they toast it, transforming a roadside fast-food snack into a gourmet meal. Toasting is key to a fabulous sandwich.

If you don’t own an panini press, that is ok. There is always a work-around. Hopefully you may own a grill pan - so you can still get those grill lines. Cook the sandwich in that and press down with a sandwich press (or use another, smaller pan, or even a brick covered in foil).

The recipe below is for the whole loaf - but again since we are not entertaining and feeding big crowds, adjust down and make what you need.

Ingredients

• 1 ciabatta loaf

• 1/2 cup black or green olive tapenade (store bought is fine) - I don’t use personally

• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1/4 pound thinly sliced dry salame (Molinari preferred - it is a San Francisco family owned company)

• 3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto

• 8 ounces fresh mozzarella

• 1 roasted bell pepper, chopped

• Fresh basil - about 6 large leaves

• Fresh ground black pepper

Preparation

• Cut ciabatta in half horizontally. Option to spread bottom with olive tapenade

• Drizzle cut side of top half with vinegar and oil

• Arrange salame on top of tapenade followed by prosciutto, mozzarella, red pepper and basil

• Sprinkle with pepper to taste and combine halves of sandwich

• If you have a panini maker, place some butter in the grill and heat up

• Place sandwich on grill and press down with top half of grill

• Cook for about 3 minutes, pushing down occasionally

• When done, take out and cut in pieces and serve immediately