making the panini

These are really delish. I know, I know veggies in the grilled cheese sandwiches have a little bit of an ick factor for the rug rats, but Robin and I both got most of our kids to choke a couple of these down. And the day of the photo shoot, we stood around and devoured them bit by bit, (because as we well know, cutting anything into little pieces destroys the calories) slathered with the red pepper herb mayo.

Note: The recipe in the paper calls for adding shredded cheese to the veggies. I didn't have any shredded cheese, and didn't feel like getting out the cuisinart and the special shredding disks, so I just sliced up some cheddar. It's all good.

Here are the steps to make a pan of panini:

First, lube the cookie sheet with some olive oil.

Add the toasted bread (and try not to notice my missing cabinet door).

Here's a look at the veggies, sauteed until fairly dry...

Load the cheese and the sauted veggies onto the bread.


Top each panini with some more cheese and another slice of toasted bread and drizzle with olive oil.

Place another cookie sheet on top of the sammies and place on the oven rack. Top with a really heavy pot or a couple of bricks. This pot is cast iron, weighs a ton and was a super score at TJ's for forty bucks on clearance last summer.


Cook at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.

And Voila!