Roasted Red Pepper and Mozzarella Panini

Now before you go skipping right over this post saying, "But alas, I have no fancy Panini machine, I cannot make them!" stop right there. You don't need any special equipment to make these heavenly, grilled bites of perfection. We'll get to that in a minute.

My recipe is a classic Italian combination with a twist. It's also a great example of a very important lesson for cooking in general: When you have a recipe that only involves a few ingredients (in this case, 5) you want to make sure they are all really good quality.

A few of these ingredients may be new to you, so here's a quick run-down before we start. What you'll need:

A fresh loaf of artisan bread, Roasted Red Bell Peppers, Fresh Mozzarella, Basil Leaves, and Olive Oil.

1. Roasted Red Bell Peppers: These are a pantry staple in our house. You can roast your own peppers (which we will surely discuss another day) but buying them in a jar is so convenient and they taste fantastic. They are sweet and mild and add great flavor. They are just packed in water, and you can usually find them near the pickles in the grocery store. I personally am picky about how I eat raw tomatoes (I know, and I call myself a foodie!) so I often substitute roasted red peppers when I cook. You could certainly use a fresh, ripe, tomato in place of the peppers in this recipe. That would be much more "Italian", but the peppers are the aforementioned twist! Just try them; you'll like them.

2. Fresh Mozzarella: By "fresh" I do not mean "freshly sliced from the processed block at the deli counter" If you have never had fresh Mozzarella, now is your chance! It's fantastic; smooth, creamy, and mild. It comes sealed in plastic with a little water around it. It's usually found in the specialty cheese case. If you have a Costco or Sam's Club near you, check there because you can get 4 times the amount for what you pay for at the local grocery store. It's a great deal.

3. Basil Leaves: I am a horticulturist by trade, so fresh herbs are near and dear to my heart. Most times in cooking, dried herbs will give you just the same result, but in this case fresh basil adds so much flavor and eye-catching color that it would be a shame not to use it.

Here we go...

1 loaf Artisan Bread (I recommend Costco's Garlic Rosemary Bread. You get two loaves for under 4 bucks)
1 Jar Roasted Red Bell Peppers
1 Ball Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Fresh Basil Leaves
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Optional: thinly sliced turkey or prosciutto

1. Slice bread on a diagonal into 1/4-1/2" slices and set aside.

2. Use a fork to pull out a few peppers from the jar. Let excess water drip off and then blot dry on a paper towel and set aside. You can slice these thinner if you prefer or just leave them in large pieces. I just use them as they are out of the jar.

3. Slice Mozzarella cheese. You'll need a sharp knife; the cheese is quite soft. I shoot for 1/4" slices, but in reality it doesn't matter if it turns into a mangled mess because it's just going to melt and become and ooey gooey mess inside your sandwich when all is said and done.

4. Now it's time to assemble. If I'm serving these as a little side-dish to a soup or salad, then I leave them as it. However, if this is going to be more of a main dish, as was the case when I made these, I add a slice of smoked turkey, or if you want to be really fancy and Italian, prosciutto. Layer the meat first, then top with slices of Mozzarella, then the red pepper, and top with basil leaves. You can leave the Basil whole, or slice it thin as I did in these pictures.

If I am using a bread that is not flavored, with garlic for example, then I tend to add a bit more basil for flavor. I do like mild flavored bread with things like garlic and rosemary because they compliment the flavors of the cheese, basil, and peppers. Don't go doing anything crazy though, like picking up a loaf of cinnamon raisin ;)


5. Top with another slice of bread and brush lightly with Olive Oil.


6. Now it's time to place on the grill. A Panini grill is a fun thing to have; you can use it for lots of things, but if you don't have one, don't fear! You just need a pan- a grill pan would be ideal so you can get those classic panini grill marks, but if you don't have that either, just grab any non-stick pan (and then get your butt to the store and invest in either a grill pan or a panini maker!) Then all you need is weight to put on top of the sandwich. Just grab another pan and set it right on top of the sandwich (make sure it's clean) and you could even pop some canned food in there to add weight. I've even seen people use a brick covered in foil to use as a press. You can also get one of these types of grill pans that come with a weighted press, or just the press itself. Whatever works! If you've got a panini grill, just pop the sandwiches in there and close the lid. The weight and pressing will allow the melted cheese to bind everything together.

You'll want to cook them for 2-3 minutes (if you don't have a Panini grill, then you'll need to flip yours over to cook the other side). The outside of the sandwich should be golden brown and the cheese should be oozing out all melty and yummy.

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