Paninis for You & Me

I love panini sandwiches. It can be breakfast, lunch or dinner, I could always make a simple sandwich into a full meal.

Panini simply means sandwich in Italian, but here in the US has come to mean a sandwich toasted in an Italian style clam shell grill with ridged grilling plates. Panini can be made with any kind of bread and filling. They can be assembled before service and then grilled to order (usually takes 3 minutes for grilling), making them quick and convenient.

Here are some panini making tips I found helpful:
~ Lightly butter or oil the outside of the sandwich just before grilling to create a golden brown crust.
~Layer sliced or grated cheese next to the bottom and the top slices of the bread to hold the
sandwich together.
~ Focaccia is popular for making Panini.
~ To promote even browning, try building the Panino (singular) with cut sides of the focaccia out.
This morning, I made myself my daily breakfast panino to start my day. Here’s my recipe for breakfast panini:

2 slices lean ham
1 scrambled egg or egg substitute
1 slice american cheese
2 slices italian pane bread
canola or butter cooking spray
chopped parsley

On one slice of bread, layer ham.
Scramble your egg in a pan with cooking spray.
Lay your scrambled egg over ham.
Top with slice of cheese.
Place other slice of bread on top.
Spray top of sandwich with cooking spray and sprinkle chopped parsley.
Lay parsley side down on panini press, grill pan or frying pan.
Spray top of sandwich with cooking spray and sprinkle chopped parsley.
Press sandwich to increase contact with grill so it can brown and crisp up.
Cook for about 3 minutes until bread is toasted brown.