Ham and cheese, with tomato slices and onion, make this panini an irresistible brunch or lunch meal. Simple but a classic for all panini fans.
TL;DR
Panini (Panino, when it's just one) in Italy are prepared with soft Italian Ciabatta breads. They are filled and pressed grilled sandwiches that are served hot from the griddle.
On the outside, panini are crunchy and on the inside they are soft. Some of our most recent favorite variations are the pesto tomato panini and the fried egg tomato panini.
This particular ham and cheese panini is made with ham, cheese, tomato slices and onions.
In Italy, you get ham paninis and mortadella panini, and this panini recipe was inspired by our panini sandwich escapades in Northern Italy.
Ingredient Notes
- Bread — In Italy they most commonly use ciabatta breads for panini sandwiches. Try to get that or as an alternative, you can use a French bread (hollowed out) or pita breads. Panini bread should be light and easy to fill.
- Ham — I love cured smoked ham, but you are free to use your favorite pork ham.
- Cheese — The cheese acts as a glue. Paul likes to use a flavorful cheese when he prepares the panini for us at home.
- Onion — Dices, the finer, the better.
- Tomato — Sliced.
- Salt & Black Pepper
Process Overview
Step 1
Diced onion, sliced tomato. Cut the bread into two.
Keep all the other ingredients ready.
Step 2
Place and spread on a bottom half of your bread the diced onion and sliced tomato. Season with salt and black pepper.
Arrange cheese and ham over that. Cut the cheese and ham into two to make them fit on the bread if they are rather large. Close the panini with the top bread.
Step 3
Grill the panini in a panini press or over the stove top in a pan.
For the stove top method, use another clean heavy pan to press the panini down. Flip the panini to grill on both sides. Serve up hot.
📖 Recipe
Ham and Cheese Panini Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ Onion
- ½ Tomato
- 4 Panini Bread (Italian Ciabatta or similar)
- pinch Salt
- pinch Black Pepper
- 2-4 Ham Slices
- 4 Cheese Slices
Instructions
- Dice your onion small, the finer, the better. Half and cut your tomato into thin slices. Cut your panini breads lengthwise into two.½ Onion, ½ Tomato
- Top each panini bread bottom with onion, tomato, salt, black pepper, ham, and cheese. Close the panini with the bread topping.½ Onion, ½ Tomato, 4 Panini Bread, 2-4 Ham Slices, pinch Salt, pinch Black Pepper, 4 Cheese Slices
- Heat a panini press or a skillet over the stove top. If you use the panini press, place the panini into the press to prepare the hot toasted sandwich. To make them on the stove top, heat the skillet and place the sandwich in, and press down the sandwich with another clean flat skillet. Flip the panini and repeat the pressing down with the 2nd skillet.
- Serve up each skillet with your favorite dipping sauce.
Equipment
- Panini Press or Stove Top Skillet
Nutrition
Serving & Storing
Don't skip adding a dipping sauce to your panini. Conventional Ketchup and Mayonnaise are great, or how about a Mayocue, spicy Sriracha Mayonnaise or a Spicy Mayochup.
We love a small tangy side salad with this panini dish. A green lettuce salad or a shredded salad with carrots combines well with this ham and cheese panini sandwich.
You can keep leftovers in the fridge for 2–3 days, but check your best before date on your ham first. Warm it up again in a panini press, over the stove top in a skillet, in the oven or in a microwave.
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