The $100+panini maker is one specialty appliance I refuse to own. I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t own one if you so choose, but I am applianced out and a good grill pan will work just fine. Between the stand mixer, the blender, the food processor, the waffle iron, the coffee grinder, the coffee pot, and the number of specialty pans I own, I might explode with another single product appliance! A good grill pan is a necessity for any kitchen and will present delectable paninis. If you want to go crazy you could use a bacon press to weigh down your sandwiches or some foiled bricks, or just your arm and a spatula. How’s that for simplicity? Not often I recommend you *not* purchasing cookware. The trickiest part of paninis on a griddle is turning them without spilling your sandwich. The aforementioned squishing with a spatula will help the cheese to contain the ingredients, and you can do it with a spatula on bottom and a fork on top or two spatulas, but a good set of tongs provides me with the most control.
These delicious summery sandwiches were a perfect weeknight dinner. With crops of tomatoes (not mine but other people’s) right around the corner, here’s a great way to highlight your seasonal produce. I roasted a whole chicken to get my chicken breast meat, partially because I think it yields the best, most tender flavor, and partially because I was planning to make tortilla soup [1] later this week. My roasted chicken recipe [2] can be found here [2]. If you don’t have the time or energy to roast a chicken, a grocery store rotisserie chicken would work fine, or you could coat skinless boneless breasts in olive oil and salt and pepper and just cook them up on your grill pan. We’re a family who loves to dip, so I brought out one of our staples a Garlic Balsamic Vinaigrette to be used as our dipping sauce.
I think due to the crusty nature of the bread used in a panini, you could easily make these in advance then pop them in the microwave for a quick cheese melting with great results. I generally make mine with ciabatta bread, but I had pugliese on hand this round. Pugliese is very similar to ciabatta, just a little rougher of a crust and a slightly different loaf shape, though I guess that could change based on who is shaping the loaf. At the end of the day, either will work or some other crusty loaf of Italian bread.
Roasted Chicken, Tomato, Onion, Mozzarella Panini Sandwich Recipe makes 5 sandwiches
Breast Meat from a Roasted Chicken, skin removed and sliced into 1/2 inch slices
3 Roma Tomatoes, cored, then sliced very thin
1/2 a white onion, Sliced paper thin
Fresh Mozzarella, 10 slices 1/8th of an inch thick
10 slices pugliese (or ciabatta) 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch thick
olive oil
Coat one side of each slice of bread with olive oil. Preheat a grill pan on medium heat. Place one slice of bread oiled side down on grill pan. Top with 3 roasted chicken slices, mozzarella, then tomatoes and onions, followed by another slice of bread oiled side up. Grill on first side for about 5 minutes until you see cheese beginning to melt, then use a good pair of tongs to flip quickly. Use a spatula to squish down and continue grilling on second side about 4-5 more minutes. Be sure to watch grill temp and lower heat if necessary to ensure you’re not cooking any faster than this. Serve with Garlic Balsamic Dipping Sauce.
Garlic Balsamic Dipping Sauce
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1/2 c. olive oil
1/4 c. water
1.5 tbsp fresh garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Murray River salt
8 turns fresh ground pepper
For the vinaigrette, combine vinegar, oil, water, garlic, salt and pepper. Whisk together then let rest for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to combine. Whisk again before serving. Keep remainder in fridge for up to two weeks.