Monday, December 29, 2008

Italian paninis with chicken, carmelized onions, and mozzarella

Here's the rundown on last night's meal. Mind you you'll probably see a theme going - I'm picking things that (a) have some component that lets my three year old help and (b) I pick things that can be done in very quick stages between bottles, diapers, switching from Noggin to a Disney movie, getting a snack... you get the idea.

If you're making this on a weeknight, you can use ready-made italian bread rather than make the bread yourself.

Italian Paninis with Chicken, Carmelized Onions, and Mozzarella

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You will need (makes four reasonably sized sandwiches):

Two Vidalia onions, sliced thin
1/2 small jar of roasted red peppers
Mayonnaise
Medium-sized ball of fresh mozzarella (about 2" diameter)
Two large chicken breasts
(optional) a small amount of grated, salty italian cheese (I use Asiago)

1/2 of a flatbread recipe (I use the "bread" part of the Basil Flatbread with Roasted Tomatoes and Basil Oil recipe on http://www.epicurious.com/)

cucumbers & tomatoes, sliced up

Things you can do during the course of the day/morning:

1. Make the flatbread dough as per recipe instructions and refrigerate.
2. Pound the chicken to tenderize and dry rub with favorite spices. I like salt, pepper, dried basil, sage, and a little hot pepper. Refrigerate.
3. Carmelize onions on medium heat. They are very forgiving and you don't have to stir them often.
4. Cut up cucumbers and tomatoes.

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5. About 30 minutes before you want to serve, bake the chicken breasts on a grill pan at 375 for about 20 minutes. Chop each breast into 4-5 pieces and keep warm.
6a. If you're using flatbread, roll it out until it's about 10" diameter and quite thin. I grill it on a Calphalon grill pan coated with EVOO.

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6. Grill the bread on one side coated with EVOO and turn. When second side is grilling, cover half of the flatbreat with a layer of mayo, the roasted peppers, onions, chicken, and mozzarella. Finish with asiago if desired. Place other half/side of bread over sandwich and grill/press other side.

Each 10" flatbread (there are 2 total in 1/2 recipe) will make two paninis. Serve with cucumbers and tomatoes on the side.

1 comment:

Stacey said...

I'm actually drooling, looking at this sandwich! I think I'm going to have to try it, for me at least, (Maybe without the cheese for R) Thank you for creating this Blog!!!