Thursday, February 3, 2011

Raspberry-Chipotle Chicken Panini with Smoked Gouda and Spinach

Prep: 5-10 min. / Cook: 5 min.

We made up this panini recipe last night and really enjoyed it.  I'll apologize now that I didn't measure anything; just use as much of each ingredient as you want.  If you don't have exact ingredients, improvise!

Ciabatta bread
Cooked chicken, sliced
Portobella mushrooms, sliced
Fresh spinach
Smoked Gouda, sliced
Mayonnaise (use the kind with olive oil if you can--it's better for you)
Raspberry-roasted chipotle grill sauce

Briefly cook mushroom slices in a small amount of olive oil (or even cooking spray) over medium to medium-high heat (about a minute total).

Spread mayonnaise on one piece of ciabatta bread and grill sauce on the other.  Cover each piece with slices of smoked Gouda.  Spread a little more grill sauce over the cheese on the mayo piece.

Layer spinach, mushrooms, and chicken over one piece of bread; top with other half.

Grill in a hot panini press for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.  Slice and serve!

Notes:
- I sliced a chicken breast in half (as if I was attempting to butterfly it and cut too far--which didn't happen), seasoned each side with ground pepper and rosemary (you could add salt, but you know me), and cooked it in a little olive oil over medium heat for probably 5-8 min on each side.  Then I sliced it.  (I didn't account for using raw chicken in the time estimate.)
- Slice the mushrooms about twice as thick as you think you'll want them.
- Use at least twice as much spinach as you think you'll want.  Like the mushrooms, it will cook down significantly.
- Next time we're going to try regular Gouda.  Although we liked the smokiness, it was ever so slightly overpowering (though still delicious).
- I realize not everyone has raspberry-roasted chipotle grill sauce on hand.  If you fit into that category, you could probably make your own by mixing raspberry jam with a little finely diced or pureed chipotle pepper (you can find cans of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in the Mexican food section at most grocery stores).  Start small with add more to taste.  I probably wouldn't use more than 1/2 a chipotle pepper in 1/4 cup of raspberry jam.  That's totally guessing, so you may want to start with less.

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