Pesto Panini Recipe

EatsNJ EatsNew Jersey
Written By Lydia Boubendir

In my opinion, spring nights necessitate simple dinners. Who wants to spend hours around open flames or a 400°F oven as the temperature heats up? As a result, easy but nutritious meals with fresh ingredients are a staple in my home this spring. 

Introduce: the tomato pesto panini. Delicious and healthy, this recipe is a favorite in my household, and I’m so happy to share it with you all. 

Note that you can make this sandwich in a panini press. Personally, my family and I don’t own one, so we got creative and used a pan instead. Either way, this recipe is rewarding and delicious.

Recipe

Ingredients

cheese tomato panini by asnim ansari

  • Bread (sliced white bread or a baguette)

  • Fresh tomatoes

  • Pesto

  • Mozzarella cheese

  • Parmesan cheese

  • Olive oil

Step 1: Drizzle a pan in olive oil until there is a thin layer of oil coating the bottom. Heat the oil in medium-high heat, then place the sliced bread down on the pan to toast it. Flip the bread over so the other face toasts. Once golden-brown, remove the bread from the pan and set it aside.

Step 2: Slice tomatoes and set aside. Spread pesto generously on one face of each piece of toasted bread.

Step 3: Place the bread back onto the pan, lowering the heat to medium. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of the pesto (on both faces), then put a generous amount of mozzarella cheese on one face of the future sandwich. On the other face, neatly place slices of tomato - the amount is up to personal preference. Quickly take one slice of bread and place it on top of the other (faces touching) and press down on it with a spatula to stabilize the sandwich.

Step 4: Place a cover on top of the pan to allow the heat to melt the cheese. Once the cheese is melted, remove the sandwich from the pan and serve while warm.

I’m telling you, this is sure to be a family-favorite. Enjoy!

Lydia Boubendir

As Editor-in-Chief, Lydia’s responsibilities include editing articles, monitoring site analytics, and managing and teaching her team of writers – and she loves every minute of it. Winner of a Regional Silver Key for poetry in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, she is a fervent reader and writer; moreover, she is an avid learner of all subjects. Besides English, she is particularly passionate about mathematics and computer programming, and she spends her free time nose-deep in a novel or textbook, perusing arbitrary Wikipedia pages, and cooking. Above all else (except for maybe her cat, Lily), Lydia loves helping others, and is grateful for this opportunity to give back to her community.

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