Roasted Tomato Mozzarella Panini |Cooking With Amanda

I may have ordered one or two or a hundred roasted tomato mozzarella paninis from Starbucks in my lifetime. Or more.

It's my go-to when I pop in for coffee and haven't eaten all day because life keeps giving me too much stuff to do. Given my total familiarity with this particular sandwich, I assure you, it's one you can make at home. Easily.

All you need is some focaccia bread, basil pesto (you may use store-bought pesto, or, better yet, try some homemade pesto), spinach leaves, tomatoes and mozzarella.

Roasted Tomato Mozzarella Panini Picture

You do not need a panini press. I'm pretty sure, from my view behind the counter as customer, that Starbucks doesn't use a panini press either. They have pre-wrapped sandwiches that they put in their oven for a few minutes.

(Any Starbucks baristas out there, if I'm wrong about this, I'd love the inside scoop.) So that's what I did. I even wrapped my sandwich in a piece of parchment before heating it up to feel even more authentic. I need to find one of those oven beepers, too.

The only real time-taker is roasting the tomatoes. Although I think the tomato roasting is worth it, because the flavor can't be beat, you don't necessarily have to roast them if time is an issue.

You can skip that step and just put sliced tomatoes on your sandwich. The oven will heat them up a bit anyway.

When I pulled this sandwich from my oven the aroma was exactly the same as when the barista hands me the Starbucks version. And, while my focaccia was a little thicker than the store-bought bread, the taste was exactly the same.

And bonus, you can buy the ingredients and have sandwiches all week without having to dole out the funds at Starbucks. Unless you need a tall mocha latte with whipped cream, then you'll have to head on over there anyway, with your own panini sandwich in hand.

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Roasted Tomato Mozzarella Panini Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Roasted Tomatoes:

2 small Fresh Tomatoes, cut in 3/8-inch slices
Olive Oil
Salt
Garlic Powder

For the Sandwich:

Easy Focaccia Bread
4 tablespoons Basil Pesto
handful Spinach Leaves
4 ounces Mozzarella Cheese

Directions

For the Tomatoes:

Preheat oven to 450°F.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Arrange the tomatoes on the tray.
Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and garlic powder on the tomatoes.
Place in the oven and bake until the tomatoes begin to shrivel and have black edges, about 25 minutes.

For the Sandwich:

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cut two pieces of focaccia, 6-inches by 3 inches for two sandwiches. Slice horizontally.
Spread a tablespoon of pesto on each piece of bread.
Spread a few spinach leaves (5 to 10) on two of the bread halves.
Place slices of mozzarella on the other two bread halves and top with tomatoes.
Assemble each sandwich and wrap each in a piece of parchment paper.
Place in the oven and heat until the cheese is melted, 5 to 10 minutes.