These tasty little sandwiches are a favorite at my house. That means its a great recipe, because my family is ultra-finnicky. I developed it for my middle daughter when she wasn’t eating meat, and loved pesto.
A few years ago I planted about 6 basil plants, crazy I know but I did. So I had to do something with them. I made pesto, caprese salads, and I dried a whole quart ziplock bag’s worth. The whole house smelled like cat pee it was awful. However, from out of that time came this sandwich, goat cheese and pesto Panini.
Another, favorite of mine, I eat for breakfast is the nutella banana Panini. Both of these are super simple to make and they are fast and delicious, too. The pesto recipe comes from my culinary school textbook “On Cooking” my new “Betty Crocker” go to cookbook.
Ingredients (pesto) This recipe makes 1 1/2 pints, if you are only making this for these sandwiches you will want to at least cut it in half or into quarters. I keep it around for spreading on bread for an appetizer or using it as a sauce with cheese ravioli or spaghetti. It lasts about a month in the refrigerator, the top will turn a little brown, but that is just oxidation, scrape it off and use the stuff underneath it is still good.
12 fl oz olive oil
3 oz pine nuts ( you can also substitute walnuts for a less expensive pesto. It will taste different though)
6 oz fresh basil leaves (If you don’t like basil, you can substitute spinach or arugula)
1 T garlic, chopped
4 oz parmesan, grated
4 oz romano, grated
TT salt and pepper
Method
- Place 4 oz of the oil in a food processor and add all the remaining ingredients.
- Process until smooth. Add the remaining oil by stream until incorporated.
You can also add 1 oz of sun-dried tomatoes softened in oil and any additional oil to make a good emulsion.
To make the sandwiches
1 loaf soft french bread
goat cheese
pesto
butter
Method
- Heat up the Panini press.
- Slice the french bread into 1 inch slices.
- Spread pesto on one piece of bread and add a layer of goat cheese on the other. Put the pieces together and butter the outsides.
- Grill for about 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Sweet & Savory 