Roasted Red Pepper Panini

We are in our Kelowna rooftop abode and the sun is shining so grilled panini with roasted red peppers is on the menu for lunch on the patio today. Panini is a grilled sandwich and it’s a good idea to have in your repertoire a few standby recipes to make when the need arises. A grilled sandwich is a lovely lunch or snack anytime. Together with  a salad it makes a meal. Add a small bowl of soup and what’s there to complain about? A great lunch or dinner by any standard. If you have an electric panini maker or a grill then you are half way there but even without it you can grill a sandwich and even have the grill marks you see in the image above. I have a panini maker but didn’t use it this time. I heated up a ridged grill pan and grilled the bread on it, pressing it down to make sure the grill marks show. For filling I used soft goat cheese and roasted red peppers, one of my favourite flavour combinations. I usually have roasted peppers in the fridge, protected with a layer of olive oil. They keep for quite a while and I have even frozen them on occasion. Give it a try.

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Ingredients:

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Good quality country style bread

Olive oil for brushing the bread

Goat cheese, room temperature

2 roasted peppers, cut into strips, either homemade or from a fire roasted red pepper jar, drained. For roasted peppers recipe see here.

Salt and pepper

A few greens for garnish

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Directions:

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Cut the bread into slices fit to be grilled.

Brush each slice on both sides with a little olive oil.

Place on a heated grill pan and cook until golden and grill marks are showing. Turn over to grill the other side.

Remove from grill and place on a cutting board. Spread each slice with softened goat cheese and then lay a few pieces of roasted red peppers on top. Season with salt and pepper to taste and lay a few green leaves over for garnish. Arugula or micro-green work well here.

Form the sandwiches and serve as soon as possible with a salad on the side.

In the image above I served it with sliced fresh cucumbers sprinkled with flour-de-sel. Simple, but a nice combination. This also goes well with the Israeli Salad, see recipe here.

To roast red peppers see directions here.

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