Panini

I have an unholy love for panini sandwiches - grilling a sandwich, IMO, makes the end result exponentially more delicious! A few months ago, I was contemplating my George Foreman grill (for which I also have an unholy love) and realized that among the millions of other things it could do, it could also make a bangin grilled cheese sandwich. Since then I have had many panini experiments, each more delicious than the next! One notable sandwich was inspired by one of Scott's favorites - sliced turkey, Swiss cheese, bacon and cranberry relish on rye. Well, last night's sandwich ( ... which will most likely see a reprise tonight!) was also unbelievably tasty - grilled veggies and goat cheese!

It was ridiculously simple to put together and required only a knife, cutting board, a bowl and George! I started by grilling the vegetables - my vegetables for this sandwich were zucchini, yellow squash and eggplant. My friend, Mara, came by for dinner and catching up, so she obliged me in slicing up the zucchini and squash on a bias (to increase surface area), unpeeled in 1/4" thick slices. From there, they were tossed in a bowl with some olive oil to coat. Meanwhile, I busted into the eggplant - I peeled the eggplant and cut it in 1/2" rounds. I laid those slices out, sprinkled them with kosher salt (both sides) and rinsed them off after about 20 minutes. (If you are unfamiliar as to why I would do this, it helps draw out the extra moisture and bitterness in the eggplant.) The eggplant, too, was tossed in the bowl with the olive oil.

I allowed George to preheat and then grilled the vegetables one grillful at a time. Grill time will vary by vegetable and thickness - about 6 minutes per batch worked well for me and left the veggies with great grill marks. Once all the veggies were grilled, it was time to assemble the sandwiches. I split the kaiser rolls open and began to build the panini!

First, I spread some chevre (goat cheese, the soft crumbly kind) on both sides of the roll, and then topped the bottom half with a nice big spoonful of bruschetta! Now, if it wasn't a Wednesday night that didn't have me arriving home until after 7pm, I would have probably made my own tomato, basil, and onion bruschetta to use on these sandwiches, but the grocery store had a really tasty premade version, so I took the shortcut. (But I do love to make my own brushcetta - especially in the summer when it is too hot to use oven and stove!) On top of the bruschetta, I layered the grilled vegetables and then popped the top of the roll on. From here, the sandwich was tossed on the already hot George until it was grilled to perfection.

The panini was delicious - crispy bread, flat squashed down sandwich, flavorful vegetables, tangy bruschetta and rich, delicious goat cheese that had melted into everything! I haven't been able to stop thinking of it!