Recipes

Portobello, Mozzarella, and Fresh Basil Panini

Italians have it right when it comes to sandwiches: They load meat, cheese, and flavorful condiments between slices of crusty bread and then compact the sandwich in a heated, ridged press. But could we find a way to make these without a panini press or an indoor grill? Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

• To achieve the signature ridged grill marks, we used a nonstick grill pan as the base and the weight of a Dutch oven on top.
• A rustic 8-inch loaf (often called a boule) with a crusty exterior and substantial, slightly chewy crumb works best here—softer sandwich breads tend to flatten into an undesirable thickness.
• The correct ratio of meat to cheese is key—4 ounces of meat and 3 ounces of cheese are the right amounts for a sandwich with cheese that melts around the filling without becoming messy.
• Thick, flavorful condiments like spicy mustard, flavored mayonnaise, and olive relish bump up the taste inside the sandwich.
• Brushing the outside of the bread with butter or oil doesn’t work well here; it just makes the bread greasy. Press these sandwiches without any fat for the proper crispy, toasted texture.
• If you don’t have a grill pan, use a preheated nonstick pan instead: you’ll miss out on the grill marks, but the panini will still be as crisp as any made in a press.