Caprese Panini

Caprese salad is one of my all-time favorite salad- especially when the ingredients used are good quality. Truth be told, I didn't always like caprese salad.  The reason for this is that I hate the taste of raw tomato.  It just tasted weird to me- tangy, juicy, and has a lot of seeds.  Over the years, my taste has started to evolve until I got used to the raw tomato taste.  Now, I do not have a problem eating them-raw or otherwise.



As I mentioned, I do like caprese salad and can probably eat it everyday.  My love for caprese led me to experiment how to incorporate it in another dish besides serving it as an antipasto (starters).  The result is this wonderfully flavored and taste panini.

Caprese salad is nothing more than a combination of sliced tomatoes, sliced mozzarella cheese, fresh basil leaves, olive oil, salt, salt and pepper.  For this sandwich, I used the classic ingredients for a caprese salad then added a couple of slices of hambon de Paris (Ham of Paris) which I got from Monsieur Marcel's*** at Third and Fairfax, inside the Farmer's market.  For a nontraditional version,I guess you can add balsamic vinegar but I have not tried it so I am not sure how it would taste.

***Note: If you have been following my blog, you would notice that I often mention this store.  The reason for that is because it is a great place to get deli and imported ingredients.



I sliced the ciabatta in half and then brush both sides with EVOO using a pastry brush.  Then I layered thinly sliced tomatoes which I also lightly brushed with EVOO and seasoned with salt and pepper.  I topped that layer with 2 thinly-sliced hambon de Paris (If you cannot find this, you can substitute it with regular ham) then add a layer of mozzarella medallions*** before adding a layer of basil leaves and covering with the other slice of ciabatta.  After that, off to the grill pan or panini maker it goes.

*** I buy pre-sliced fresh mozzarella medallions from WholeFoods but you can just buy them whole and slice them yourself.



Ingredients:

1 Ciabatta, sliced into two

1 thin slices of Hambon de Paris or regular ham

1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (less if you prefer)

1 small ripe tomato, sliced thinly

a  few leaves of basil

4-5 fresca mozzarella medallions (fresh mozzarella cheese)

salt and pepper to taste.


1. Slice ciabatta into half.  Lightly brush with EVOO using pastry brush.

2. On one side, place one layer of thinly sliced tomatoes.  Lightly brush with EVOO then season with sea salt and pepper according to taste.

3. Add two slices of hambon de Paris and top with mozzarella cheese.

4. Add a layer of basil leaves then place the other half of the ciabatta. Set aside

5. Heat your cast iron grill pan over medium heat.

6. Add about 1/2 a tsp of olive oil.  Using a non-stick, heat-resistant basting brush, spread the oil all over the grill pan.

7. Position your panini in the middle of the pan.  Place a layer of foil on top of the panini before placing you weight.

***make sure that the weight is stable and provides even weight on the panini.  I used a cast iron pan and then topped that with a cast-iron wok to provide a a heavier weight on the sandwich.

8. Grill each side for about 3-4 minutes or until it is toasted according to your preference.  When one side is done, use a spatula to turn it over and cook the other side using the same procedure.

9. When done, remove from heat and slice into two equal portion. Serve with potato chips, fried, salad or your choice of sides.

Sweet Chili, Chicken, and Pesto Panini

As I mentioned in my previous post, I stopped by at Whole Foods and found really good quality greens.  My finds included really fresh and good quality basil which were sold in huge bunches.  They looked really good that I picked up a couple.  I was planning on making a batch of pesto which is great to have around for quick pasta recipes, sauce for flat breads, and of course, panini... hehehe

The price per bunch is around $1.75 which is a steal considering the same amount of basil cost a little over $3 at Ralph's and Pavilions.  I know because I checked those stores a couple of days ago but didn't get any since their basil didn't look very fresh...they looked like they have been sitting on the chiller for about a week or so.  I do think the prices for fresh spices are outrageously high that sometimes it makes me want to plant my own...Oh, wait... I might end up killing them like I did my other plants...hehehe

Making your own pesto is really easy because it doesn't involve a lot of slicing or dicing.  All you need to do is place all the ingredients in the food processor and let it do all the hard work.  Washing all the small parts of the food processor afterwards though is the problem.  Too many small parts to clean and wash which requires hand washing to remove all the food particle that gets stuck in the nooks and crannies.  Having a homemade pesto though is, in my opinion, better than store-bought ones since you can control the amount of ingredients that you want to include.  I, for one, like a lot of garlic in mine so I usually put a whole garlic head instead of just a few cloves.  Besides, basil and pine nuts, you can practically use any nuts and greens of your choice to make pesto.  Besides the traditional basil/pine nut pesto, I also like arugula and walnut combo.

After making the pesto, I made chicken pesto panini to go with the wild arugula salad.  This is such an easy to make meal and with some shortcuts, they can be prepared in less than 30 minutes.  Panini is nothing more than a grilled sandwich.  No panini maker?  No problem because you can use you stove top cast iron grill pan.  Just make sure that it is well seasoned to avoid the panini from sticking otherwise you will have a mess on your hand.  And believe me, cleaning a cast iron pan with burnt, stuck-on food is no fun.  Besides the grill pan, you also need something to weigh your sandwich down.  My Le Creuset wok's function has been redefined to double as the weight for making panini...hehehe.

Ingredients:

Basil Pesto

2 cups packed fresh basil

1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano

1 head of garlic, peeled (this is just based on my preference but you can use less if you prefer)

1/2 cups pine nuts

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Place garlic, pine nuts, and parmigiano reggiano in the food processor.  Pulse for a few seconds.

2. Add basil and pulse some more until it is slightly chopped.

3. With the food processor still going, add the EVOO in steady stream until blended.  Stop to scrape the sides occassionally and then pulse until well blened.

4. Season with sea salt and pepper according to taste.

Sweet Chili, Chicken, and  Pesto Panini

Ingredients:

skinless, boneless chicken breast, boiled and sliced

1 Cubanelle chili pepper - seeded, cored, and  thinly sliced (or any sweet chili pepper variety)

Basil Pesto

Shredded mozzarella cheese

sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

ciabatta breads

olive oil

*** NOTE: you can determine the amount of ingredients to use per panini based on your preference.

1. Slice ciabatta into half.  Spread pesto on each side of the ciabatta.

2. On one side, place one layer of chicken.  Season with sea salt and pepper according to taste.

3. Add a layer of cubanelle chili pepper and top with mozzarella cheese.

4. Place the other halfof the ciabatta on top and set aside.

5. Heat your cast iron grill pan over medium heat.

6. Add about 1/2 a tsp of olive oil.  Using a non-stick, heat-resistant basting brush, spread the oil all over the grill pan.

7. Position your panini in the middle of the pan.  Place a layer of foil on top of the panini before placing you weight. 

***make sure that the weight is stable and provides even weight on the panini.  I used a cast iron pan and then topped that with a cast-iron wok to provide a a heavier weight on the sandwich.

8. Grill each side for about 3-4 minutes or until it is toasted according to your preference.  When one side is done, use a spatula to turn it over and cook the other side using the same procedure.

9. When done, remove from heat and slice into two equal portion. Serve with potato chips, fried, salad or your choice of sides.

Balsamic Vinegar and White Truffle Oil Bruschetta

This is a nice starter to any meal because it is easy to make and packs great flavors. I think it only took me 15 minutes to chop, season, and assemble the entire dish. The secret to this bruschetta is the use of white truffle oil and balsamic vinegar combination which gives it an unusual earthy flavor.

Making bruschetta is very easy and takes just a few fresh ingredients such as tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. The bread is lightly toasted so that it is able to soak the liquid from the topping a little better plus it makes it taste better too. I use french baguette but you can use any bread of choice just make sure you slice it at an angle for a bigger surface area to hold the topping.

Ingredients:

1 loaf of french baguette, sliced into 1 1/2 inch thickness and then lightly toasted
5-6 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
a small bunch of basil, roughly chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp white truffle oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Lightly toast your bread in a toaster or oven.
2. In a bowl combine the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.
3. Scoop the tomato mixture using a spoon and top it on you toasted bread.
4. Place on platter and serve.

Pesto Sauce

Pesto sauce is one of the easiest and fastest sauce that you can make because it does not require any cooking. It is also one sauce where you have to make sure everything is fresh because it will really come through for you. This simple yet tasty sauce includes parmigiano reggiano, basil, olive oil, pine nuts, and garlic which are mixed and blended in a food processor. Alternatively, you can use mortar and pestle using a circular motion to grind the ingredients together BUT who has the time or energy to do that? Hahaha... Certainly not I. The only drawback with using a food processor is that you have so many parts to clean afterwards but I will take that anytime of the day than to grind the ingredients manually. Speacking of food processors, I just realized as I was taking one out to use for this dish, that I have not 1 or 2 but 4 different food processors which came in different sizes. Aigoo...what was I thinking when I purchased these babies?...hahaha... Anyways,I used a small processor for thsi dish since I wasn't making a huge batch.

You have to get a block of parmigiano reggiao, not the pre-shredded version because it better in my opinion. Also, you can use walnuts if you do not have pine nuts. although they are a little pricey, I prefer pine nuts over walnuts though. Make sure that you wash and drain your basil before grinding. I used my salad spinner to get rid of the fluid from the basil.


Ingredients:

2 cups fresh basil leaves, stems removed
1/3 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
salt and pepper to taste




1. Place basil and pine nuts in food processor.


2. Process until it is grinded. Scrape the sides with spatula.


3. Add olive oil in steady stream while continuing to process using a food processor.
4. Add garlic and grated parmigiano reggiano. Blend until well incorporated.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Diced Ovolini with Basil and Crushed Red Pepper flakes

I was going to get Bocconcini today for this dish but the store where I get it from ran out so I bought ovolini instead and diced them. This dish is very easy and requires just a few steps but they are very delicious. A simple yet elegant antipasto.

Bocconcini and ovolini are both mozzarella cheeses the only difference is their size. Bocconcini are tiny, grape-sized version while ovolini are egg-shaped ovals which are the suitable size for insalata caprese. Mozzarella cheese is a tender and mild-flavored cheese with buttery texture and usually used as a topping for pizza. Buffalo mozzarella is an important industry in Italy and mozzarella di bufala Campana received a protected geographical status from European Union in 2008.


Ingredients:

1/2 lb bocconcini or ovolini (diced into 1 inch size)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
a small bunch of basil, torn roughly
4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper to taste.

1. Drain and slice ovolini.
2. Stir in olive oil, pepper flakes, and basil.
3. Season with salt and pepper according to taste.
4. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Insalata Caprese (Caprese Salad)

This is such an easy, no-frill, no-brainer, and most of all no-work salad. All it takes is to cut the mozzarella cheese and tomatoes. after that all that's left to do is to assemble and season. I think the key to this salad is to get the freshest ingredients that you could find and getting a really good quality extra virgin oilve oil. All that quality and freshness really comes through when you take a bite of the salad and makes all the difference. This is coming from someone who, just a few short years ago (okay, two years ago), could not even tolerate eating raw tomatoes. This salad converted me from a non-raw tomato eater to someone who really likes them.

Insalata caprese originated from the Italian region of Campania. It is a simple salad composed of tomatoes, mozzarella di bufala, basil and seasoned with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and olive oil. It iss served as an antipasto or starter. I deviated a little from the traditional caprese salad because I added a little bit of capers.


Ingredients:

1 large ripe tomatoes
1/4 pound fresh mozzarella cheese
a handful of fresh basil leaves, washed and well-dried
sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 Tbsp capers

1. Wash tomatoes and let it air dry. Slice into 1/4 inch thick.
2. Remove mozzarella from container then drain liquid and discard. Slice into 1/4 inch thick.
3. To assemble: take a piece each of tomato and mozzarella cheese them sandwich a basil leaf in between them place in a serving platter. Repeat until everything is assembled.
4. Top with capers, season with salt and pepper according to taste, and drizzle olive oil on top.