Excited about the prospect of making paninis, and after holding out for a few weeks, we finally decided to get a panini press (well, Anders decided :-)). So down to the nearest Target and what do they have? Shelves up and down stacked with George Foreman grills. Now I didn’t grow up in the US so I don’t really know George Foreman, but he is certainly a very prolific grill maker. So, without a choice, we got a George Foreman grill which we put up next to Alessi wine bottle opener and the Georg Jensen beer bottle opener. After all, if you can’t name your kitchen equipment by name, how will you tell them apart?
Well, the grill is clearly no panini press. The bread barely got any of those distinctive grill stripes, despite a very long grilling session. It did taste great however, so we decided to add it to our growing sandwich collection anyway. You can’t argue with good food. However, we also decided it’s a borderline panini, hence the name.
Sandwich Recipe
- 2 slices of sourdough bread
- 1 oz Blue Stilton cheese
- 1 steamed asparagus
- 1 slice of ham
- 2 tbs sun dried pesto
- 4 fresh basil leaves
- 1 slice of onion rings (about 1 1/2 tbs)
- 3 roasted garlic
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 tbs crumbled feta cheese
Smear the 3 roasted garlic on one the bottom piece of bread, then smear the sun dried tomato pesto on both pieces of bread (Only on the insides). Add the ham and then spread out the Blue Stilton cheese. Add the onion rings and asparagus, and crumble the feta on top. Place the fresh basil on the feta, and sprinkle the olive oil on it all. Then close the sandwich with the other slice of bread. Place in your Panini maker, and push down so the sandwich becomes flat while it cooks. Total cooking time depends on your brand of grill, but approximately 4-6 minutes until golden brown. If you, unlike us, have a real Panini maker, yours might look grilled, and not just squished. Send us your picture; we would love to see how this works out for you.
