Grilled Eggplant Panini with Sun-Dried Tomato Olive Tapenade

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!

 

About Grace Vallo

Hi, I’m Grace Vallo! Welcome to my kitchen! Here you’ll find kitchen-tested recipes and step-by-step tutorials with videos, giving home cooks the knowledge and confidence to cook and bake the most flavorful recipes for every season. Featured on the Food Network, Food & Wine, Taste of Home and more.

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