Panini with Prosciutto, Fontina, Spinach and Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

One of my quick weeknight meal inspiration sites is Panini Happy, run by my friend Kathy. We met at BlogHer last summer and I have been impressed with her and her site from the beginning. Kathy is in love with her panini grill and it shows in her creative sandwiches. Even if your average weeknight is too busy for a fancy dinner, everyone has time for a healthy sandwich in the evenings, and Kathy’s site provides plenty to choose from.

She inspired me to spiff up our weekly panini night, and I came up with this one after I found a tub of grated fontina in the back of refrigerator and couldn’t remember why I bought it. Obviously I need to keep better track of my groceries. The slow-roasted tomatoes came from our summer garden, and we are looking forward to growing even more tomatoes this summer.

Prosciutto and fontina can be a little pricey, but you can easily substitute another thin-sliced ham and some Swiss cheese. If you don’t have slow-roasted tomatoes, purchased sun-dried tomatoes will work just fine. We really liked the sandwich and will make this again.

This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, a blogging event that celebrates the dishes we create from foods we’ve grown, raised, foraged, or hunted ourselves. I am hosting this round, so please send your post to me at andreasrecipesgyo AT gmail DOT com by February 28. If you are new to the event, you can read more about the rules for participating at the Grow Your Own page. Read more

Italian Beef Sandwiches

On Super Bowl Sunday I attempted to fulfill one of Michael’s foodie wishes. He has been craving Chicago Italian beef sandwiches, and I decided to do some research and make some for him. He got to relive some good memories, and I learned that making Italian beef is pretty easy and well worth it!

Italian beef is a Chicago institution, and a number of restaurants around town serve up this dripping wet sandwich, which is best eaten over a trough. The meat is roasted to medium rare, sliced thin, then simmered in an au jus made from the meat drippings, stock, lots of oregano, and other seasonings. To eat it, you fill a sub roll full of meat and then dip the whole sandwich into the au jus. No dainty dipping of the ends, you plunge the whole sandwich in! Then you top it with bell peppers and giardineria (pickled vegetables). It is sloppy good! Read more