One of the pieces of equipment that does live in a drawer in our house and gets used fairly frequently with growing boys is our panini press. We tend to get our chicken from our local butcher Andrew Gordon Butchery and Fine Foods nowadays, so I know it’s all good stuff. I buy the lighter mayonnaise and add some herbs to make it more interesting, and a favourite standby food is always a panini.
My Kenwood panini maker actually reminds me a lot of a George Foreman grill, and if I had one of those, I’d be tempted to try making paninis with one of those.
I often make my own bread, but in emergencies, it has been known to be a shop bought loaf, or even the ready made panini bread from Costco, which I’ve used for this chicken and mayonnaise panini.
We were out of much in the way of vegetables, and with only a sad lettuce in the salad drawer, it just had to be added for the health option.
Ingredients
Method
- Set the panini maker on to heat up.
- Simply cut open the panini bread and butter the inside. You don't need to butter the outside of the bread with a panini maker, but I know some people still do. My eldest doesn't like butter, so his is made without any butter at all.
- Dice the chicken breasts and cook them fully, whether in a frying pan, in the oven, or steamed. This is also a good recipe for left over chicken from the previous day.
- Mix the cooked chicken breast with the mayonnaise and fill the opened panini. Add salt and pepper if you wish. Top it with the lettuce and close as you would a sandwich.
- Pop into the panini maker, close the lid and leave for approximately 5 - 10 minutes.
- Garnish and serve.
I used to make paninis on my George foreman before it gave up the ghost, this makes me really want a new one!
I knew they would be usable but nobody I know is willing to give theirs a try.
It didn’t give as good lines on the panini though!
I didn’t think about that, but taste would have been fab though.