Panini, or in the singular - a panino - is a grilled sandwich loaded with fresh ingredients and usually served warm and toasty. They are fast, versatile and delicious. The easy way to make them is with a electric panini grill. I do recommend a panini grill with a top plate that adjusts for different thicknesses of the sandwiches once they are assembled. A good one is the Cuisinart Griddler that you can get at Amazon.
A great idea for a family party is to set up a panini station. Fire up that panini grill and and make your favorite panini! Guests can create their own sandwiches in minutes. One tip is to always add a slice of cheese; it helps hold the panino together when cooking.
Watch the video to see how easy it is to make panini! You will see in the video how big this Classic Italian Sub sandwich was when we started.
Here are my Top 5 Favorite Panini:
The Classic Italian Sub Panini - with Salami, Soppresseta, Capicola, pepperocini, provolone, cucumbers, ripe tomatoes, red onion and a tangy red wine vinegar and olive oil dressing on Italian Sesame Seed Bread
Portobello & Onion Panini - with caramelized onions, mozzarella, and portobello mushrooms sautéed in butter and red wine on Ciabatta with a drizzle of balsamic glaze
Puttanesca Panini - like the sauce, loaded with Kalamata black olives, tomatoes, basil, olive oil and a special twist - a couple of fried parmesan cheese patties - on Ciabatta
Plain Cheese Panini - Grilled Provolone and American cheese with butter (Lily loves it)
Purple Panini - just crunchy purple vegetables - purple bell pepper, purple flowering kale, red cabbage and red onion - with a Dijon Celery Seed Mayo dressing
Panini Party!
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter softened
Classic Italian Sub Panini
- Crusty Italian Bread
- Olive oil & red vinegar dressing
- Genoa salami soppresseta, & Capicola
- Red onion sliced thin
- Romaine lettuce crunchy leafs
- Cucumber slices seeded
- Pepperoncini slices
- Provolone slices
Portobello Panini
- Ciabatta
- Portobello mushrooms sliced and sauteed in butter, red wine, olive oil, salt & pepper
- Caramelized onions sliced and sauteed in butter, salt & pepper
- Mozzarella slices
- Balsamic glaze
Puttanesca Panini
- Crusty Italian bread
- Fresh Tomato
- Black Kalamata Olives pitted
- Fried Parmesan patty
- Fresh garlic slices
- Olive Oil
- Arugula
Plain Cheese Panini
- Soft sliced Italian bread
- Softened butter
- Slices of mozzarella provolone, and american cheese
Purple Panini
- Italian bread
- Dijon mayo with celery seed
- Purple bell pepper
- Purple flowering kale leaves chopped
- Purple cabbage sliced
- Purple/red onion thin slices
Instructions
- Prepare and assemble desired ingredients.
- Preheat panini grill to high.
- Slice bread lengthwise.
- Spread butter (mayo or olive oil) on inside bread.
- Add layers of ingredients.
- Close sandwich. Spread one side with butter (or olive oil).
- Place buttered side down on grill. Butter the side facing up.
- Close grill top and press down while grilling for 3-5 minutes until cheese melts, and the bread is golden brown with grill marks.
- Remove from grill and cut sandwich in half or quarters.
- Serve immediately or at room temperature.
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