| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 30 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Cook: | 10 min |
| Yield: | 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 small Japanese eggplants or 1 medium to large regular eggplant, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
- 2 zucchini, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
- 1 small red onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 baguettes (each about 2 feet long)
- 1/2 cup Basil Pesto, recipe follows
- 8 ounces fresh water-packed mozzarella cheese, drained, sliced
- 2 tomatoes, sliced
- 1/2 cup roasted red peppers
- 8 large basil leaves, optional
Instructions
- Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle the oil over the eggplant, zucchini, and onion slices, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Working in batches, grill the eggplant, zucchini, and onions until they are tender and grill marks appear, about 4 minutes per side. Cool completely.
- Cut each baguette into 6 pieces. Working with one baguette piece at a time, slice in half and spread both sides with the pesto. Working with the bottom slice of the baguette, stack 2 slices of eggplant, 2 slices zucchini, 1 slice onion, 1 slice tomato, 1 slice mozzarella, and 1 slice of roasted pepper. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place top half of baguette on top and continue with remaining baguette. (The sandwiches can be made 4 hours ahead. Wrap well with plastic wrap and refrigerate.)
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup (about) extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
- In a blender, pulse the basil, pine nuts, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until finely chopped. With the blender still running, gradually add enough oil to form a smooth and thick consistency. Transfer the pesto to a medium bowl and stir in 1/2 cup of cheese. Season the pesto with more salt and pepper, to taste. (The pesto can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
- Yield: 1 cup
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 12 servings |
| Calories | 280 |
| Total Fat | 11 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 36 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 8 g |
| Protein | 11 g |
| Cholesterol | 17 mg |
| Sodium | 589 mg |
Reviews
I made this for a party and people loved it! Since there is so much filling, I suggest choosing a baguette or loaf that is more wide so it will hold everything together. Instead of using a panini press (since it was way too big), I just put the sandwich on the grill before serving. Also I sprinkled a little bit of salt on the vegetables before grilling. It was delicious! Highly recommend.
Will make it again! Very tasty
This recipe was amazing! My husband is a recent vegetarian and I have been finding some great recipes and this one tops it all. The pesto is soooo good. We really did enjoy this dish. I did place the panini on a panini grilled after topping the bread with all the wonderful vegetable to melt the cheese.
These sandwiches were really good. I put a splash of balsamic vinager over the vegtables after I took them off the grill.
The pesto was fantatic in this sandwhich. I debated not roasting the peppers but am so glad I did, so much flavour. Thanks Giada!
Delicious, light, veggies are wonderful mixed. Will make for others.
Neither the recipe nor the video mention that you should press the sandwhiches under heat until the cheese melts, but I am assuming that everyone knows that it is an essential part of making any pannini.
To prepare the vegetables, I used a Breville Panini Press and set it up under my range hood which took care of the smoky problems that some of the other reviewers warned about. I used a prepared pesto sauce, so the whole process took just 50 minutes from prepping the vegetables to serving the fabulous sandwiches. Great combination of flavors.
To prepare the vegetables, I used a Breville Panini Press and set it up under my range hood which took care of the smoky problems that some of the other reviewers warned about. I used a prepared pesto sauce, so the whole process took just 50 minutes from prepping the vegetables to serving the fabulous sandwiches. Great combination of flavors.
The paninis were really tasty and everyone especially loved the pesto sauce. I had never made pesto sauce before but the accompanying recipe was pretty easy and tasty. For the sandwiches, grilling all the veggies took longer than expected but it was worth it and you can wrap the sandwiches in foil and refrigerate for later. Next time around, I would make more pesto sauce as it was barely enough for all the sandwiches.
I made this yesterday for the first time and was very impressed. I love all the veggies that go into this anyway so I thought I would take a chance. It is a little time consuming but worth the trouble. My husband loved it and he is a hard one to please with new recipes.
Thank you Giada for this new menu item. I will be making it often.