Paninis Without the Press

by Peg Cochran

The word panino is Italian for "small bread roll.”  The plural form is panini.  A panini is essentially a sandwich although it has come to refer to a grilled sandwich.  They make special panini presses, and while I’ve ogled them in the Williams Sonoma catalog on more than one occasion, I decided that I really didn’t need another gadget in my kitchen (famous last words!).  So…I came up with an alternative method.

I usually put the panini on my cast iron stove top grill and top it with the heavy cast iron frying pan that I inherited from my grandmother, and which I will be able to leave to my children, grandchildren, etc.  (Do they ever wear out?)

I was going to make some paninis the other day when I spied my waffle iron on my shelf.  Hmmmm….how about a sandwich grilled in that?  Not strictly a panini maybe, but I thought it might be interesting.  My husband loved it!  It got nice and crispy, and the cheese melted beautifully.

You have lots of options for your filling, but for your bread you need something fairly substantial—tonight I’m using a Portuguese bread I found in the grocery store.  Other times, I’ve used a round loaf of peasant Italian bread. 

I’ve used deli meats (ham and turkey specifically) with a layer of cheese (provolone or swiss) with great results.  But I also like to use leftover chicken.  We had a rotisserie chicken the other night so I’m going to use the leftover white meat. 

Ingredients

Mayo
Butter
Deli meat slices or white meat chicken
Slices of cheese
Extras: Sliced tomatoes, avocado or onion

Italian or Portuguese bread

Your basic waffle iron

A glass of wine for the cook!

First, put some mayo on each slice of bread.  I use light mayo.  If you aren’t at all concerned about calories, butter the outsides of the slices of bread.  If you want to limit the caloric hit, you can spray them with non-stick cooking spray such as Pam.   Place your choice of fillings on the bread, put your sandwich together and place in your waffle iron and press down.  I wasn’t able to completely close and lock my waffle iron, but that didn’t matter.

The delicious finished product

 Grill for approximately three minutes (depends on how hot your waffle iron gets so be sure to check every minute or so.) 

Available now from Berkley Prime Crime

 Enjoy.

Available now from Berkley Prime Crime

Dust off the Panini Maker

I think one of the most clever kitchen gadgets to come along recently is the panini maker. It's perfect for busy moms and vegetarians. If you've read The Diva Runs Out of Thyme or The Diva Takes the Cake, you know that Sophie and her mom are into panini sandwiches. A panini maker is basically a light press that heats on both sides. They're very easy to use, everyone has great sandwich ingredients in the fridge most of the time, and they're ready in a snap. Nothing, but nothing, is as fabulous for melting cheese in a sandwich. If you have a grilled cheese lover in the house, a panini maker is a must. Over at Food Network, Bobby Flay has a recipe for Grilled Banana and Nutella Panini -- who wouldn't eat that?



A word of caution, though, these gadgets get unbelievably hot. I would advise keeping little fingers away from them.




Sometimes I think I don't use my panini maker enough. So when I saw this clever idea, I had to try it. I love eggplant, but if you've cooked eggplant, you know it will absorb as much oil as you give it. A panini press is the perfect way to cook eggplant quickly, and without oil. I've tried eggplant slices with and without oil in the panini press, and honestly, there isn't much difference. I do however, like to salt sliced eggplant and let it "cry" for about a half hour before cooking it. Some say it reduces bitterness, and I think that's true.

So, for my quick panini lunch today, I sliced eggplant, salted it, and let my panini maker warm up. I also fried an egg. I slipped the eggplant into the panini maker and let it cook for about two minutes. The amount of time depends on the thickness of the slice. I also cooked the rest of the eggplant slices in the panini maker, two at a time, for use at dinnertime.

Almost any bread works well in a panini maker. For my lunch I used a Food for Life English Muffin made of sprouted whole grains, and added just a touch of mayo to the insides of the muffin. Then I assembled my sandwich -- muffin bottom, slice of eggplant, sprinkle of parmesan cheese, egg, salt and pepper, then the top of the muffin. The whole sandwich went back into the panini maker for a few minutes and it was delicious!

You can see that hundreds of combinations of ingredients would work. I also like the panini maker because if you have one person who loves tomatoes or avocado and another who doesn't, it doesn't take any extra time to make that special panini for each individual.


If you don't have a panini maker and you're thinking about buying one, there are a couple of things to look for. The most important thing is that the top is attached in a manner that allows it to float and come down flat on top of the sandwich. You don't want one that is hinged in the back -- it will squish the back of the sandwich. The other thing that I love about my panini maker is the detachable grilling surfaces. They pop out and can go into the dishwasher as soon as they're cool, which means very easy upkeep.

And now I'm off to try bread and chocolate in the panini maker. Hmm, I can see this will take a lot of experimenting on my part. The things I do for this blog . . .

~ Krista

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