A big, fat panini brings me back to walking down the cobblestone streets of Italy, crunching on a warm, toasted panini with the sun shining on my face and the familiar sound of mopeds winding down bumpy streets.
It’s a beautiful picture, and that’s why I’m making this panini today! Grilled eggplant is meaty and charred, loaded on toasted bread with an incredible sun-dried tomato olive tapenade and stringy provolone cheese.
Close your eyes and you’ll be there with me…
My STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO below will help guide you through the recipe. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for recipe videos every week!
Makes: 4 paninis, plus extra tapenade
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes
The Ingredients
8 slices good-quality olive ciabatta, sourdough or wheat bread
2 medium eggplants
8 slices provolone cheese (2 slices per panini)
12 fresh basil leaves (3 leaves per panini)
Balsamic glaze
Extra virgin olive oil
For tapenade: *
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained and roughly chopped
½ cup pitted green olives (I like frescatrano or castelvetrano olives)
½ cup pitted Kalamata olives
½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (or parmesan cheese)
½ cup basil, packed
½ lemon, juiced
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 anchovy fillet
*The ingredients for tapenade will yield leftovers! You can also use a jarred tapenade if you’d like to make these paninis in a pinch!
The Steps
For the tapenade: toast pine nuts in the oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Add all tapenade ingredients to a food processor and blend to desired smoothness. I like my tapenade almost smooth with a slight bite to it!
For grilled eggplant: remove the top and bottom of the eggplants. Cut into ¼ inch slices. Toss slices lightly in olive oil. Grill slices on each side for 3-4 minutes until slices have nice grill marks.
TIP: You can also pan-sear until light golden if you do not have access to a grill!
To assemble a panini: drizzle 2 slices of bread with olive oil. Add 2-3 slices of eggplant to one slice of bread, top with 1-2 slices of provolone, and 3 basil leaves. Use a knife or spatula to add a generous layer of tapenade to the other slice of bread, finishing with a drizzle of balsamic. Grill panini for 3-4 minutes a side until nice grill marks have formed. Slice and enjoy!
TIP: You can also toast your panini in a panini press or in a pan until golden brown.
The Steps with Video
My STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO below will help guide you through the recipe. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for recipe videos every week!
