I’ve written before that fresh mozzarella is one of my favorite foods in the world. I love how creamy it is and how perfectly it melts on pizza and pasta. But it’s also good cold in a caprese salad with sliced tomatoes, fresh basil and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. What if I were to combine the creamy, meltiness with the classic flavors of caprese? Enter the caprese panini.
Now, I do realize this isn’t a unique idea as I’ve seen versions of a caprese panini and grilled cheese in many restaurants, sometimes even pairing with a pesto or basil mayo. One unique thing about mine is that I happened to have roasted garlic in my fridge and decided to spread that along the inside of my bread. All I really know about the creation this panini is that I made grilled caprese chicken the night before and happened to have leftover cheese and tomatoes which next day were just begging to became this caprese panini. The best part about it is I made it for lunch when I was working from home and it took less time than it would take me to run and grab lunch if I were in the office (before we moved to our new building). That’s a winner.
Here’s what you need:
Lightly brush one side of each piece of bread with olive oil.
Spread the inside [non-oiled] side of the bread with some roasted garlic. Just plop on a few cloves on each slice and spread them with a butter knife. Don’t skimp on the garlic – roasting mellows out its flavor and you won’t be able to ward off Dracula with your breath.
Now cover evenly with fresh mozzarella cheese.
And some sliced tomatoes – I used roma’s because I like that they have less seeds and membranes for something like this.
Drizzle with some balsamic glaze.
Now sprinkle with fresh basil that you’ve cut in a chiffonade – that’s a fancy way of saying cut into thin strips.
Top with the other piece of bread – garlic side down, oil side out. And pop into your panini press on medium-high heat.
Now here comes the most important decision you’ll need to make. How long to panini the panini. You can take it just about 3-4 minutes until the bread is lightly golden and the cheese is warm but not totally melted and retaining a little bit of it’s shape. Or you can go closer to 5-6 minutes until the bread is nice and toasty warm and the cheese becomes really really goey.
I stopped early, partly because I was hungry and partly because I wanted it somewhere in the middle of cold caprese cheese and totally melted cheese. Pretty much any way you take this is a winner, depending on your preference, time or like me even your mood that day.
Enjoy!
- 2 slices sourdough bread
- Olive oil
- Roasted garlic, 6 cloves
- 6 slices, sliced mozzarella (or enough to cover your bread)
- 6 slices of roma tomato (or enough to cover your bread)
- 1 T balsamic glaze, or to taste
- 1 T basil, cut to a chiffonade
- Preheat a panini press to medium-high heat.
- Lightly brush olive oil onto one side of each slice of bread.
- Using a butter knife, spread three cloves of garlic onto the non-oiled side of each slice of bread.
- Top one slice with even layers of mozzarella and tomato. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and sprinkle on basil.
- Top with the remaining slice of bread, oil side up.
- Place in your panini press and cook 3-6 minutes depending on how melty you want the mozzarella to be.
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