2 loaded Pac-Man Paninis And 1 Kitchen Meltdown!

Christilynn here!

I had a super busy day yesterday! I’m still on winter break, but was asked to come into school to give a couple of tours for the incoming freshman this upcoming semester.

By the time I got back home it was around 4:00 pm. I had to be at my friend’s house at 5! She had recently went through tremendous hip surgery and it was her birthday, so I told her I would cook us both dinner and we could have a picnic in her room – she really can’t go anywhere else!

I already knew I would be late, so I had to give her a call and let her know.

rushing around my kitchen so I wouldn’t be too late, I raided my fridge and cabinets. I knew i wanted to make something very filling and satisfying because I knew she had to take medicine that required eating beforehand.

I found a whole loaf of olive oil ciabatta bread from the bakery, and remembered I had recently brought my George Forman grill back to my house. Right then and there I knew I wanted to make a panini : )

I made a 3 cheese (parmesan, gorgonzola, cheddar) , chicken, tomato, onion, pesto panini!

I pretty much used the cheese left from the 1up Mushroom Bruchetta

http://thegamersgirlfriendscookbook.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/1up-mushroom-bruschetta/

Loaded Pac-Man Panini

(the gorgonzola for some reason really reminded me of the little balls pac-man eats so I had to name it that!)

This will make two loaded paninis

• 1 loaf olive oil ciabatta bread (not pre-sliced)
• 1 box honey roasted pre-cooked Perdue chicken (I didn’t have enough time to actually bake chicken but if you want to go for it!)
• 1 small onion
• 1 sliced tomato
• 1 clove of garlic
• Gorgonzola cheese (pre-crumbled)
• cheddar cheese
• 1 cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese (pesto)
• as many slices of parmesan cheese you want (paninis)
• 1 cup basil (I used dried because we didn’t have any fresh, both work just fine )
• olive oil

unfortunately, I ran out of my house with the food as fast as I can and was unable to take a picture of it :/ I apologize! I promise you though, these paninis will be hearty and satisfying!

For The Pesto

Dump your basil, garlic, and parmesan cheese into your food processor. Pulse the mixture a couple of times until everything is incorporated, and the garlic clove is chopped and blended as well. continue to pulse the food processor and carefully add in enough olive oil to make a slightly liquidy (it’s a new word I just made up) spread.

For The Panini

I used my George Forman grill to grill the panini, but you can really grill this any way you want. it you do have a panini maker or George Forman, make sure you plug them in so they are hot and ready to go by the time your ready!

Slice the onion and tomato into thin slices. Take your ciabatta loaf and cut off the end pieces. then cut it right down the middle. you should have 2 little bread loves now. To each small loaf, stand it up vertically and cut right down the middle (so you are creating the sandwich bread slices)

On the bottom slices of bread, spread the pesto, and layer the slices of parmesan cheese. on top of the place the tomatoes, then the chicken. After the chicken, place the onions and cheddar cheese on top. On the top layer of bread (underneath) spread more pesto, and sprinkle some gorgonzola cheese on it. Place the bread on top of the sandwich and press down.

(Dont forget to spray your grill!)

Place the paninis in or on the grill until they get the awesome grill lines and are nice and crispy, and the cheese is all melted!

As for the kitchen melt down, I was wrapping the paninis in a brown paper bag wrap and completely knocked one of the paninis off the plate and it EXPLODED in mid-air and splattered allll over the floor…I only had enough bread for the two paninis……………… 5 SECOND RULE!

I picked the two slices of bread up and removed the rest of the ingredients (that were still left) from the bread and made the panini all over again with the bread…. I made sure that would be my sandwich : D

anyway….

I hope you enjoyed the recipe! i know I’m getting hungry again just writing about it!!!

~Alexa & Chrsitilynn~