This delicious recipe comes from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa from her book, barefoot contessa at home. This is one of those cookbooks I read from the library (yes, I read cookbooks!) and thought, "Oh, I need this cookbook." You can thus imagine how happy I was when I saw the cookbook at Value Village in near new condition for $4.99. Yes, I was one happy camper.
I must admit that I love grilled cheese sandwiches. Add to this my enjoyment of pesto and garden fresh tomatoes, and this recipe seemed perfect to try. I do not have a panini press, so simply used my non-stick frying pan. As for the bread, I chose gluten-free of course, and it worked out well.
Ingredients
2 large beefseak tomatoes (or other variety)
1 (16-ounce) ball fresh mozzarella (or other)
12 slices bakery white bread, sliced 1/2 inch thick (or gluten-free)
about 1 cup prepared pesto
kosher salt
unsalted butter, at room temperature
Method
1. Preheat a panini grill machine or if you are using a non-stick pan, heat over medium heat.
2. Core the tomatoes and slice the tomatoes and mozzarella 1/4 inch thick.
3. Place the bread slices on a work surface. Spread each slice evenly with pesto. Place a layer of mozzarella (about 2 slices) on half of the bread and cover with a layer of tomato. (If the tomatoes are large, it will be only one slice.) Sprinkle the tomato with salt (optional - I left this out). Place the remaining slices of bread, pesto side down, on top. Spread the top and bottom of each sandwich with softened butter. Grill the sandwiches in batches on the panini grill for 2-3 minutes, until the mozzarella starts to ooze. Cut each sandwich in half, and serve warm.
* You can assemble the sandwiches in advance and grill them before serving.
Enjoy!
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