Three Cheese and Vegetable Grilled Panini
A couple weeks ago, my slow cooker spent all day simmering beef for my French dip au jus. It was well worth it. I saw several recipes online recommending the use of Boursin cheese. They sell it here. I had never bought it before and probably wouldn't buy it again. It wasn't bad, it's just that it's a soft cheese with garlic and herbs that is over priced. There are a lot of other brands of soft cheese with garlic and herbs that I can get for less. And if I was gonna buy a name brand expensive cheese again - I'd defintitely go with Paturain. I love their cheeses.
Anyway, back in the day when I lived in the states, I used to go to this sandwich shop called Quizno's. They had the best French dip and I think it had a bit of cheese on it as well. I loved it. I would go there quite regularly. Then one day, I walked in and it was off the menu. The entire menu had changed. And the guy working there said yeah, that's what makes Quizno's so special. They change their menu on a regular basis. I was appalled. WHAT?!!!! No French dip. I was here not more than a month ago (two weeks to be exact) and I was sitting her eating one. But no... it was gone and not coming back - not any time soon at least. Well, we were there at dinner time and quite hungry so I grudgingly picked out another sandwich and it was not enjoyable at all - and I told the guy - I'm not coming back ever. And I never did.
Let that be a lesson to all restaurants and food chain places every where - it's okay to change up your menu and have special offerings... but keep some of it the same. Like if I go to Subway in America - they have the same sandwiches as the Subway in the Netherlands. If I go to McDonald's any where in the world - same stuff. But then they have some specials here and there and that's cool.
So, anyway, back from my tangent. I had some of that leftover Boursin cheese and I decided to make one AMAZING sandwich - grilled panini from it. It was so good, that I made one for myself the next three days. And I will probably make some for myself a couple days this week as well. This sandwich is so good... I'd put it on the menu in my diner.
I put together a step by step photo essay of just what I did:
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| Take your two slices of bread and smear each slice with Boursin cheese (or similar brand) . Then put a layer of pan fried courgette (zucchini) slices on top. |
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| The top with a layer of pan fried aubergine (eggplant) slices. |
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| Either top with shredded Mozzarella cheese or with fresh Mozzarella cheese. I've used both - and either is delicious. |
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| Put another couple slices of fried eggplant on top. (I love fried eggplant - it's one of my favorites) |
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| Slice us some roasted red pepper and layer that on top. |
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| Use either real Cheddar cheese or this fake plastic melty stuff. I'm not ashamed to admit that I like it. |
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| Put the other slice on top and you are ready to grill it. |
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| I make a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches... the best advice I can give you: always use a sheet of parchment paper - makes clean up so much easier! |
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| Close the grill cover and wait... and don't forget to plug it in! |
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| check to see if it's done. I like it when it has those toasty grill lines. Melted cheese oozing out the sides is a plus. |
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| Cut in half and serve on your favorite plate. I got some nice Polish pottery. I love these plates. Eat and enjoy (serve warm). YUM YUM. |
Related Posts:
Other recipes/blog posts I've been enjoying:
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