If you love a good panini but don't have a press, no worries, today I'll teach you how to make an Eggplant Panini without a press!
If I'm serving a sandwich as a dinner option, it has to be a hearty one. This eggplant panini manages to be both hearty and meat-free, making it a wonderful weeknight meal option.
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Panini or Grilled Cheese?
If you were to ask my opinion, I'd say they're about the same thing.
However, to get technical, a panini by definition (Wikipedia) is "a sandwich made with Italian bread, served warm by toasting".
This is one of those times where I say "who cares what you call it", just eat it. If you want to call it an eggplant grilled cheese instead of an eggplant panini, by all means, go for it.
Another of my favorite paninis is my turkey apple panini, it is great with both deli turkey or leftover Thanksgiving turkey.
Ingredients
- Bread - your choice but a thick Italian or rustic bread works really well
- Basil - fresh basil leaves
- Cheese - mozzarella cheese slices
- Hummus - flavor is your preference but a roasted garlic or roasted red pepper works great
- Butter
- Eggplant - you can used grilled eggplant or fried eggplant cutlets
Which Eggplant
Italian style eggplant over a Japanese eggplant for sure.
This recipe works really well with either a breaded eggplant (cutlet style) or a simple grilled or baked eggplant slice.
I often will make some extra fried eggplant when I'm making my Eggplant Parmesan and freeze them. Let's face it, breading and frying eggplant for a sandwich seems like a lot of work. Keeping a few in the freezer really helps.
Alternatively, you can buy a box of frozen breaded eggplant cutlets from most grocery stores too.
If you want to save calories or time though, simple baked or grilled slices of eggplant work amazing too. This is where I'm going to focus the recipe today.
Instructions
Preheat a grill pan, skillet or panini press to medium-high heat.
Brush melted butter on one side of each slice of bread.
Place one slice of bread (butter side down). Spread hummus on bread, top with prepared eggplant slices (overlap slices), basil leaves and mozzarella cheese. Add in any additional ingredients you may be using. Top with second slice of bread, butter side up.
Cook over medium-high heat. If not using a panini press, place a piece of parchment or non-stick foil over top of sandwich and use a heavy bottomed pan or burger press to press the sandwich down.
Once nice and toasty, about two to three minutes, use a spatula and flip it over and press again.
If using a panini press, simply close the press and let it toast until bread is golden and cheese is melty.
Related: Eggplant Stir Fry
Printable Recipe Card
Eggplant Pannini (no press needed)
Ingredients
- 2 slices bread thick rustic bread or Italian
- 2 leaves fresh basil
- 2 slices mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons hummus flavor is your preference, I use either a garlic or roasted red pepper
- 1 tablespoons melted butter
- 4 slices prepared eggplant grilled, baked or breaded cutlets
Optional Ingredients
- roasted red peppers
- sun-dried tomatoes
- pesto
Instructions
- Heat a grill pan (or skillet if you don't have a grill pan) on medium/high
- Brush melted butter onto one side of each slice of bread.
- Place1 slice bread, butter side down and spread the hummus on the up side of bread, top with prepared eggplant (slightly overlap slices), basil and mozzarella (if you are using optional ingredients add them now too). Top with other slice of bread, butter side facing out.
- Place sandwich on hot grill pan, put a small piece of aluminum foil over it and put a heavy pan, burger press or brick etc on top in order to weigh it down so it all melts together good. After about 2-3 minutes flip it over and put the weight back on. The sandwich is ready when golden brown on outside and cheese is melted.
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