What is Panini? Use Panini Makers to Create Rustic Italian Sandwiches
Hearty Italian panini sandwiches, made with a panini grill maker, blend the flavors of meat, cheeses, vegetables and even fruit to perfection.
What is a Panini?
A panini is a rustic Italian sandwich served warm. I love to make a panini during the summer because it is the perfect way to use fresh vegetables. It's also a wonderful way to use lots of different kinds of leftovers. During the winter it is the perfect cold-weather comfort food
The first thing you should know about making a panini is to start with a thick slice of hearty artisan bread. Why? Because panini makers have ridges. If you start with a thin slice of bread the panini grill press will slice right through the bread and your ingredients will seep out on to the grill.
I also love to use gourmet pestos and mustards in my panini. These spreads give your panini the pizzazz that you get in fancy cafes.
Panini and Soup
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Breville Panini Duo
NonStick Panini Grill Press
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Then I just start to go through the refrigerator looking for odd pieces of ham or steak, cheese that melts well like mozzarella, vegetables such as peppers and onion, and perhaps a slice of apple or peaches. I tend to like thinner panini so I'm conservative. My husband on the other hand just piles on the stuff.
Panini Makers
Cuisinart, Hamilton Beach, and DeLonghi
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Only $140.00 |
How to Buy the Best Panini Press
- Make sure that the hinge on the panini grill press is high enough to accommodate the hight of the panini you want to make. For me that wouldn't be much of an issue. But for my husband, it could be a challenge. (You should see what the guys make on poker night!)
- I personally would want a non-stick panini grill maker. Despite my most careful efforts ingredients always seem to ooze onto the grill.
- Power-on lights remind you that your panini gill press is turned on. Ready-to-cook light lets you know that it's hot enough. If the panini press isn't hot enough then the Italian sandwich just doesn't seem to cook right.
- We use our panini grill maker so much that it sits on the counter all of the time. I'm glad we decided on one of the small panini makers, because we don't have a lot of counter space. In fact, we are considering getting a kitchen cart to put it on.
- Check the bottom of your panini grill press to make sure that it won't slide around or off of the counter. Seriously. So many people use our panini grill maker that we want it to be as safe as possible. When we have friends over to watch football games, we just set out all of the ingredients and let people make their own sandwiches.
If you don't want to add another appliance to your kitchen, then there is another way to make a panini. Take a look at the panini pan to the right that has the ridges. You assemble your panini, heat up the pan, and then put in the panini. Then use the panini press to flatten out your sandwich. It's the same effect as a press. You just have to watch it because there's no timer. Because it doesn't cook both sides at once, you'll have to flip it as well.
Calphalon Contemporary Nonstick Panini Pan and Press
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Panini Cookbooks
I've been given several as gifts and they really do help get your creative juices flowing. For me, it really encouraged the use of fruit slices. For some reason when I had sliced pork, it never dawned on me to add a few apple slices! Here's some of my favorites.
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