I think ciabatta bread makes the best panini, it’s not doughy at all, its light with lots of holes in the dough but sturdy enough to hold what ever you put in it, and best of all it has great crunch!
You could roast your veggies ahead of time and put this together for a great weekend lunch in no time at all. I had some grilled eggplant sitting in my frig from the other day, and other veggies I wanted to use up, so I roasted red and green bell peppers, red onion, cherry tomatoes, and artichoke hearts to go along with it. All were roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper in a 400 degree oven.
Just slice your ciabatta loaf lengthwise, and slather pesto on each side, in this case I used sun-dried tomato pesto, but basil pesto is equally as good. Layer your veggies along with a good sharp cheese, I used Fontinella, it has the flavor of a good provolone, nice and sharp, and it melts great.
Cook it up on your panini press if you have one, or you can use a grill pan with a weighed down lid on top. This was so good! Crunchy on the outside, the roasted flavors of the veggies inside, the sharpness of the cheese, all highlighted by the pesto. Hope you give it a try!
Have a great weekend, and Buon Appetito!
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
My,my,my!! What I wouldn’t do for one of those right now!! Thank you Marie! You’ve made my kitchen and life a whole new world of good foods!! We love you in this household !!! 😊
Edward, you’re the best!
Hi Marie! I have to admit,since I’ve been following your blog/website I have had nothing but success in the kitchen. My frond s and family all rave about your recipes and I hope that they decide to join your mailing list as well,they sure get enough encouragement fro me!!! Thank you again!
Edward Szczerba
Someone gave me a foreman grill so I tried to make one just like this. It didn’t turn out anything like it! The foreman grill smashed it way too much and made all the stuff from the inside come out. I may have to look into a real panini griller. I must try this beautiful sandwich!!
That is one hell-of-a panini! wowzie wowzie does it look gorgeous.
What’s for dinner??? LOL
Hey girl, the ciabatta panini is looking good…yum!!!
Let me know when your on facebook, we can connect that way too!! Go for it Marie, it’s so much fun!!!
KM
I love lunch; it’s my favorite meal. I love panini, my panini press, and cheese. Your sandwich looks incredible. Please stop by my blog to pick up an award.
YUM!!!!
This sings. Beautifully.
That is a visually stunning sandwich. That first photo is breathtaking. Talk about eating with your eyes!
You can make anything look delicious!
Oh, coming hear is such a treat for the eyes! You’ve outdone yourself again, Marie. The very thought of this sandwich makes me happy. Can’t wait to make it!
This is my idea of a perfect sandwich – it looks FANTASTIC!
WOW! This looks very yummy.
Fantastic! I agree Ciabatta is wonderfull It’s the bread we used when we developed the New Quiznos Torpedo. This looks so good I want to eat the monitor!
Wow!!! Marie look sbasolutely delicious!! xxGloria
AAAAAAAHHH!! this looks SO good! LOVING the panini press! it’s in my wish list, for sure!
you can’t ever go wrong with a good piece of ciabatta, grilled veggies, and cheese! any suggestion for other types of cheeses, though?
Oh, that looks so good ! I can almost hear the crunch of that sandwich! And I love all the grilled veggies. You certainly don’t have to have meat to have great sandwich.
An absolute wonderful orchestrated panini, loving those roasted veggies!!
oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh….this simply looks and sounds so incredible….thanks to you, I now know what I’m fixing for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for all of your inspiration and great blog! Roz (aka bella)
so like, is there one thing not to like about this sandwich?
answer: no
OMG that looks fantastic, I wanna come to your house for lunch!
Oh my…now this is something to sink your teeth into!
**My hubby is drooling…lol
Let’s dig in!! This is my kind of Panini! Veggie time!
Mama Mia!!!! I’m drooling here!!!!
I’m going to make the panini today since I have the ingredients. Yea! I also got a garlic shaver like yours and it is a lifesaver!! I love it.
There are many things for me to catch up on this blog 🙂
When I first discovered and had ciabatta bread in Chicago I was totally hooked. I used to almost stalk the deli bakery where it was sold (it was made at another bakery in the town. The deli used to sell them whole. Oh gosh, just thinking about it right now makes we want to have some.
For Easter I am definitely going to try that Ricotta cake.
As always, it is a pleasure visiting hon. Hope you and the family are having a good weekend.
Your post title should have been “Heaven Between Two Pieces of Bread” ! Those veggies look SO good and the melted cheese, oooh, yummy!
Oh yes it is Marie, just pure hapiness. What a delicious panini! Droolworthy!!
I like all of that cheese in your grilled vegetable panini!
Oh, please come over and cook for me! That looks way too good!
Yeah! I finally got connect to the comments page! I’ve had trouble for over a week gaining access to leaving comments! I’ve been faithfully drooling over the recipes though! Love that chicken vesuvio, and I grew up eating the pergatory eggs! They are perfection! Both versions of the pound cake sound excellent to me, and that roasted veggie panini is heaven on earth! YUM, YUM, YUM!
I am all over that panini of yours, Marie. A feast for the eyes!
that last shot? money!
killllllling me over here.
your panino looks awesome!! making me hungry.
I am salivating and licking my lips. You would never know I’d just eaten lunch! Beautiful!
Wow! That is an awesome looking panini. It has everything I love; pesto, roasted veggies and fontinella cheese.
A feast for the eyes. Ciabatta is really a great bread for panini.
Oh WOW, Gosh …
This is drool worthy!
Cheers,
elra
Oh wow does that look like the best thing ever invented or eaten! Those grilled veg look fabulous and the whole thing…well, we do have plans for a fancy restaurant tonight, but I want one of these sandwiches! Now!
Your food is always so healthy and beautiful.
Now, that’s a real panino!!!
It just doesn’t get much better than this! This is one of my favorite meals during the farmer’s market season. Your photos are terrific, Marie. I just want to reach into my screen and get some.
Just sent the link for this, to my daughter! What a great site.
You ‘had me’ at ciabatta but to fill it with roasted vegetables, pesto, fontina cheese and then press it…well, suffice it to say that we are kindred spirits!
I had this panini at a restaurant for lunch today, but sadly it did not look nearly as good as yours.
You don’t have to say how good it was. I can see by your photos that it was awesome! You do veggies proud, you know that?!
Lots of love,
Maryann xox
I see that eggplant under that cheese!
That is a gorgeous sandwich!
oh yum. what a mouth-watering panino. I’ll have to try it. Love the idea of the sundried tomato pesto too.
This panini looks awesome – the roasted veggies sound really good together with the cheese!
Oh my gosh, YES! This looks fabulous! Can’t I just have half of yours?
Hi Marie!! How are you.. and how is your tech teaching going? 🙂 I have been meaning to email you.. I’m glad to see you posting! And what a post!!! This is spectacular, but all of your posts are. What I love about your food is the beautiful colors and textures.. and how you make such good use of your roasting pans. So delicious looking. I never see fontinella here. I am going to have to check our local cheesemonger. Ciao and hugs!
Wow! That is beautiful and colorful. Silly me, why didn’t I think of using pesto. I see this recipe being on my lunch table, this weekend. I’m craving veggies! Great job!
~*drool*~… This is really speaking to me right now, lol! Looks fabulous!
That looks so good Marie! I love roeasted veggies and that bread looks so nice and rustic.
I’d love to take a big bite or two!
Looks Delicious Marie, I love ciabatta, pesto and all of those veg you used. I am going to have this for lunch on Saturday. Kathy.