Caprese Panini |Cooking With Amanda

Lunch tends to be the most difficult meal of the day for me. Sure, if there are leftovers from dinner the night before then I'm golden! I love when I've made a big tray of pizza pasta because I know my lunch the next day is going to be absolutely fantastic. Few things in life heat up better than pasta with a chunky vegetable sauce, sausage, pepperoni and all sorts of different cheeses. It's like an everything pizza in baked pasta form!

If not though, I find myself peering inside the refrigerator longingly wondering what to make for my mid-day meal. I personally want my lunch to be rather quick, and I don't want to spend too much time actually cooking at lunch time. Most of the time I usually find myself settling for a sandwich. Easy, right? I love ham and cheese just as much as the next guy, but it certainly gets real old real quick and just feels so blah.

Any time I can jazz things up a bit, I'm all over it. That's where this easy to make Caprese panini comes in. This is one sandwich that is no fuss, no muss yet it's way better that the same ol' same ol'. Zesty flavorful pesto packs a punch when it melds together with creamy fresh mozzarella, ripe juicy tomatoes and fragrant basil leaves.

Press these vibrant fresh ingredients together between two crusty slices of ciabatta bread until they're warm and the cheese has melted. In the end, you've got an easy lunch that will satisfy your hunger for good food without having to spend too much time preparing it. A drizzle of syrupy balsamic reduction is my very favorite part of this sandwich. It's the perfect finishing touch to this flavorful, easy to make Caprese panini recipe.

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Caprese Panini Recipe

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Ingredients

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 ciabatta roll, sliced in half lengthwise or 2 slices of ciabatta bread
2 tablespoons pesto
2-3 slices fresh mozzarella
3 large fresh basil leaves
2-3 slicess of tomato

Directions

In a small sauce pan, stir together balsamic vinegar and honey. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half and mixture has become thick and syrupy. Set aside.
Spread pesto on one side of the ciabatta roll. Place mozzarella slices on other side of ciabatta roll. Top with basil then tomatoes. Place pesto spread ciabatta roll on top to form a sandwich.
Place sandwich inside panini press and cook until cheese has melted. Open sandwich and drizzle with balsamic reduction.