As a snack, you can use not ordinary and boring sandwiches, but mouth-watering and original panini. And it's very easy to make them!

What is this dish?

Panini or panino is an analogue of a sandwich familiar to many. This dish belongs to the traditional Italian cuisine and is prepared without fail from Italian white bread - ciabatta. Moreover, it should be fried, so you end up with a hot sandwich. A wide variety of ingredients can be used as the filling, but in any case, they should be covered with bread on both sides.

How to make a panini?

How to make delicious Italian panini? There are a lot of options, because Italians love variety in everything. And below are some interesting recipes.

Recipe number 1

A classic and very popular option is the ham and cheese panini, which is a great hearty snack.

For cooking you will need:

• two pieces of ciabatta;
• 50 g ham;
• 50 g of hard cheese;
• a few sprigs of fresh basil;
• paprika and salt.

Preparation:

1. Cut a slice of ham that is roughly the size of the bread slices. Do the same with cheese.
2. Put ham on the first slice of bread, put basil on it, sprinkle with paprika and a little salt (if the ham is salted, you don't need to add salt to it). Next, add a slice of cheese and cover it with a second slice of bread.
3. Preheat a skillet and fry the panini on it, first on one side until a delicious crust, then on the other.

Recipe number 2

Make gourmet panini with mozzarella, tomato and pesto.

You will need:

• four slices of ciabatta or white bread;
• 10 g butter;
• 100 g mozzarella;
• two small tomatoes or four cherry tomatoes;
• basil and salt.

To make pesto sauce:

• a large bunch of fresh basil;
• a third of a glass of olive oil;
• three cloves of garlic;
• three tablespoons of pine nuts;
• 50-70 g of parmesan.

Preparation:

1. Prepare the pesto sauce first. To do this, wash and dry the basil, grate the Parmesan, and peel the garlic. Immerse all ingredients (except oil) in a blender bowl and grind, and not necessarily until perfectly homogeneous. Then add olive oil and whisk the sauce.
2. Spread enough pesto on all four slices of bread.
3. Cut the tomatoes into slices, like the mozzarella.
4. On two slices of bread, first put the tomatoes, then the cheese, put a little basil on top. Next, cover the sandwiches with the second halves of bread and fry on both sides in a skillet with butter to achieve a distinct ruddy.

Recipe number 3

Panini with chicken and mushrooms will become almost a full-fledged hearty dish.

The list of ingredients is as follows:

• eight slices of bread;
• 150 g chicken fillet;
• 200 g fresh mushrooms, such as champignons;
• eight incomplete tablespoons of mayonnaise;
• some vegetable oil
• salt, ground pepper.

Instructions:

1. First of all, prepare the filling. To do this, rinse the chicken fillet, cut into strips or thin slices. Heat oil in a skillet and fry the chicken until golden brown, then simmer until cooked, season with salt and pepper.
2. Wash the mushrooms, cut into slices and also fry, adding a little salt.
3. Grease all slices of bread with mayonnaise on the inside. Place chicken and mushrooms on four. Place the remaining bread slices on top.
4. Fry the panini on each side until crispy and browned.

Recipe number 4

Panini with salmon will be delicious and tender.

Here's what you need to prepare:

• two slices of white bread;
• 50 g mozzarella;
• 50 g lightly salted salmon;
• a few sheets of lettuce or arugula;
• a tablespoon of mayonnaise.

Preparation:

1. Take the first slice of bread, brush it with half of the mayonnaise you have. Next, cut the salmon and place the slices on the bread. Place the cheese cut into rings on top, and lettuce leaves on it (tearing them is optional and even undesirable).
2. Brush the second slice of bread with mayonnaise, cover the sandwich with it.
3. Fry the panini on both sides without oil in a hot skillet. An expressive ruddy should appear, in this case the bread will be covered with a crust and it will be pleasantly crunchy.

Recipe number 5

If you take a little break from the appetizers and experiment with desserts, you can make amazing sweet panini with bananas and chocolate. For this you will need:

• four slices of a loaf;
• two small ripe bananas;
• 50-70 g of chocolate (it is best to use bitter chocolate);
• 5-10 g butter.

Process description:

1. The chocolate must be melted either in the microwave or in a water bath.
2. Spread the softened chocolate on two slices of a loaf.
3. Cut the bananas into rings or strips, place on the bread and cover with the remaining slice.
4. Heat the butter in a skillet and fry the panini in it until golden brown. This dessert is best served hot to keep the chocolate melted.

Useful tips for housewives:

• If you can't find an Italian ciabatta in the store, don't despair. Ordinary yeast white bread or loaf is quite suitable, the taste will turn out to be the same excellent.
• Traditionally, panini is fried on the grill, but a more familiar and affordable option is to use a frying pan. And if you have a waffle maker or sandwich maker, then the task is simplified at times, because using such devices, you can cook everything quickly and achieve the perfect crisp.
• If you want the bread to be tender, and the filling soft and hot, then after quick frying on both sides, cover the pan with a lid and simmer the panini over low heat for just a couple of minutes.
• To keep the panini from falling apart and crunchier, it is best to use breadcrumbs.
• It is recommended to fry panini without oil. But if you lightly grease the bottom of the pan with olive oil, then the appetizer will turn out to be more tender and aromatic.
• Try experimenting with fillings and use whatever food you have: vegetables, mushrooms, fish, meat, various cheeses, and even fruits and berries.

Delight and surprise your family with such a delicious and unusual snack as Italian panini.

Feb 11, 2017 Olga

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

8 slices of white bread

2 tablespoons butter

200 g mozzarella

2 tomatoes

2 tablespoons pesto sauce

Fresh basil leaves to taste

Cooking method: Spread pesto on 4 slices of bread. Cut the mozzarella and tomatoes into thin slices. Place tomato slices and mozzarella on top of pesto and bread halves. Then, if you wish, you can put basil leaves on top and cover each sandwich with the second half of the bread. Then heat the skillet and fry the panini in butter for 3 minutes on each side.

Panini with ham and cheese

Ingredients (for 1 serving):

2 slices of white bread

2 slices of cheese

2 slices of ham

4 fresh basil leaves

Paprika, salt, black pepper to taste

Cooking method: Layer a layer of bread, a layer of ham, 2 leaves of basil, sprinkle with paprika on top, then put cheese, basil and a slice of bread on top. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Next, fry the panini in a skillet in butter until golden brown. If you have a waffle maker or sandwich maker, you can use it.

Panini with salmon

Ingredients (Serves 4):

Ciabatta bread or small bun

130 g mozzarella

40 g lightly salted salmon

Fresh basil leaves

Lettuce (such as romaine)

Cooking method: First dry the ciabatta lightly in the oven until crisp. Cut in half so that one edge remains intact. Brush the bread with mayonnaise and finely chopped basil sauce. Place thin salmon and mozzarella slices inside. Then fry in a skillet or in a sandwich maker to melt the cheese a little. Then place the lettuce inside.

Panini with fried egg

Ingredients (for 1 serving):

2 slices of bread

3 tbsp. tablespoons of grated cheese

1 fried egg

2 strips of fried bacon

Butter to taste

Lettuce leaves to taste

Salt, pepper to taste

Cooking method: Preheat a skillet or sandwich maker. Spread 2 slices of bread with butter. Turn one piece over the other side, sprinkle with grated cheese, top with bacon and a fried egg. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover with lettuce and half of the bread. The bread should be butter facing out. Fry the panini until golden brown.

Chocolate Panini

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

Bread "Ciabatta"

½ cup nut or almond butter

2 tbsp. spoons of honey

200 g chocolate

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon of cloves

¼ tsp salt

Cooking method: Cut the bread into several rectangles. Combine nut butter, honey, salt and cloves. For each slice of bread, distribute 1 tbsp. spoon of the resulting mixture. Spread the chocolate on top and cover with the other half. Then spread ghee on top of the bread and fry in a skillet until the chocolate is melted.

Panini are the same sandwiches, only cooler. They are eaten not only by Italians, but also by a lot of people around the world. In the same KFC there is panini, probably in other establishments they serve. But if big chains use special equipment for making these sandwiches (panini press), then the average dude needs to be smart, otherwise you will get ordinary, unremarkable sandwiches.

So how to make panini at home? And why is it pleasant to cook them in our realities? Let's answer the last question first. To make panini, you don't need special bread for, which you won't find in every store. You can use loaves, regular bread, and any thing that can be called bread, and more or less dense. The Italians themselves are not particularly worried about this and use what is at hand at a particular moment. So if you see the word "bread" in a recipe, then you can use whatever you like.

1. Classics

Ham and cheese are our everything. And nothing is easier than a ham and cheese panini. How to do? We said it was very simple!

Ingredients:

- 2 pieces of bread;
- 2 pieces of cheese (use hard cheese);
- 2 pieces of ham;
- fresh basil;
- paprika;
- salt;
- pepper.

Preparation:

1. Put ham and basil (a couple of leaves) on a layer of bread, sprinkle with paprika, finish with cheese and pepper, salt. Then we put in the final layer of bread.
2. Fry in a pan until golden brown.
3. Panini is ready!

Extremely important advice: In fact, the panini should always be flattened. But without a waffle iron or sandwich maker, this is not easy to achieve. Therefore, we share our culinary wisdom with you. Listen carefully! When you put your panini in the pan, put some weight on it. For example, a pot of water. Fried on one side (2-4 minutes) - and turned over to the other. It is true and even necessary for all recipes in the collection.

2. Pear panini

We are not full, we will try another recipe. This time we'll cook for two people.

Ingredients:

- 4 slices of bread;
- a tablespoon of mustard;
- 6 slices of ham;
- 1 pear (peel and chop thinly);
- a cup of grated cheese (use any, but we recommend mozzarella);
- 2 pinches of black pepper;
- 1 tablespoon of margarine.

Preparation:

1. Coat the bread with mustard. Not on every side, of course. Then we put a layer in three slices of ham, half of our pear, a pinch of black pepper and half of the cheese.
2. Close our structure with the last piece of bread and coat the panini with margarine on the outer sides a little.
3. Heat a skillet and cook over medium heat until golden brown. Don't forget to press down with the load!

3. Three meats

If you want more meat and less vegetables.

Ingredients:

- 4 slices of bread;
- red pepper (sweet which);
- 4 slices of ham;
- 12 slices of salami (cut into circles);
- 8 pieces of chicken breast (prepare it in advance);
- olive oil;
- salt and pepper.

Preparation:

1. Fry red pepper in a frying pan, chop it.
2. Rub the bread with olive oil and spread on our bread base a layer of 2 slices of ham, 6 slices of salami and 4 slices of chicken breast (they should be small).
3. Finish the construction with red pepper and spices.
4. Fry our panini until golden brown.

Even more important advice! As you noticed, we don't really use sauces when making panini. Some dudes dress them on Italian sandwiches even before frying, which is very harmful to both the taste and the sauces themselves. Down with this obscurantism, use sauces after cooking! This is how they enrich the taste of panini, rather than turn into an eerie mess. In addition, if you stick to our strategy, the crust of the bread will be crispy (the absence of excess liquid affects).

Bon appetit, buddy!

The fastest, because everything happens like this - one, two, and you're done. Simply because you definitely have the ingredients for the panini, and in the right cut, and because it's almost a regular sandwich.

And I also want to add that it is also terribly tasty, and even healthy. After all, we will definitely alternate healthy and delicious products with even more useful ones.

It's just about a couple of slices of bread and any layer. This is another quality of panini - versatility.

Well, let's not forget that such an appetizer is irreplaceable not only during any meal. It's so convenient - to take such food with you, and then, if you wish, to warm it up at work! Imagine the reaction of hungry guests who come by accident ... Your imagination, a selection of the simplest foods - and a quick nutritious meal will satisfy everyone!

Cooking time: depends on the number of servings, but it took me 15 minutes to dry the bread for one panini

Complexity: zero, especially if you have a store cut

Ingredients:

toast bread - 2 slices

lettuce leaf - 2 leaves

Preparation

As a rule, you can buy sliced ​​bread in the store - it is more pleasant in terms of aesthetics, both in terms of cooking further, and in terms of eating!

In a word, we will cut the bread thinly. Next, there are several approaches to drying bread. Including a waffle iron, etc. I chose the simplest and fastest - in a frying pan. We dry it, pressing it with something convenient, and it will turn out to be embossed.

Next, let's take the hard cheese. Although I wanted to take mozzarella, I couldn't find it. We cut thinly-thinly.

Do you have any ham? Do you have boiled meat or sausage? Let's cut it as soon as possible, and also into thin circles.

Do not forget to turn the bread, otherwise it will burn, and we will continue.

Tomato is a very important ingredient. If it is not there, there will be no spicy taste. And you don't have to add salt to our entire structure! We will also cut it, but not very thinly.

Let's prepare lettuce leaves. I washed them, and they "snuggled down" a little. Therefore, wash the leaves in advance so that they have time to dry.

Everyone, let's put the food on one slice without removing the pan from the heat. First, put the cheese.

Put a leaf of lettuce and a tomato on it.

Cover the tomato with another leaf of lettuce.

Then put in a circle of ham and cheese.


Cover this beauty with a second slice of bread and, lightly pressing down with something even, keep it in a frying pan so that the cheese will melt. If desired, you can hold it under the lid.