New Recipe: Roman Panini

Each week as part of my duties with TheKitchenHotline.com I plan a full menu of meals that feed a family of four for an entire week.   Each day’s menu feeds the family three meals plus a snack for the kiddies.  These recipes need to be relatively easy to allow more quality time for the family to spend together.  Another part of my charge is to come up with healthy recipes.  Each week I will share one of these recipes with you.  Here’s this week’s:

Roman Panini

• 1 large loaf or 4 individual sized Ciabatta loafs
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large ripe heirloom tomato, sliced
• 8 ounces fresh basil leaves
• 8 ounces pecorino romano cheese (made from sheep’s milk so no lactose), shaved
• 1 clove garlic, sliced in half
• Sea salt and garlic powder to taste

Slice the Ciabatta to make a top and bottom. Brush the insides of each slice with olive oil then sprinkle with garlic powder. On the bottom slice layer in order tomato, basil cheese and top slice of bread. Repeat with remaining bread and ingredients. Place each sandwich into a panini press or onto a heated skillet topped with a heavy pan and cook until toasted on both sides. Remove from and immediately brush the top of each sandwich with olive oil, rubbed with garlic and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve with Citrus salad.

Make gluten-free by substituting your favorite GF bread for the ciabatta. Make vegan by substituting soy Parmesan cheese. Each sandwich contains 680 calories, 29 grams fat, 4 grams of carbohydrates and 19 grams of protein.