Tomato, Pesto, and Mozzarella Panini

Okay, this is one of my better finds lately. We have been eating these quite often and this is the recipe I submitted for the June/July edition of the SAA newsletter, but I was excited to share it with you, so I sent it a little early. If you're part of SAA, consider it a little "sneak preview." I'm just joking around. Sort of. I'm fully aware that I take food a little too seriously.

I found this recipe in Barefoot Contessa at Home. If you don't have a panini grill, don't worry about it! We don't either and we love what our George Foreman does with it!

This is a great sandwich, but make sure you use good-quality ingredients. I like to use the fresh Italian peasant bread that Hyvee is selling now with fresh mozzarella (also can be found at Hyvee).

2 large ripe beefsteak tomatoes
1 (16-oz) ball fresh mozzarella
12 slices bakery white bread, sliced 1/2-inch thick
about 1 cup prepared pesto
kosher salt
butter, at room temperature

Preheat a panini grill machine.
Core the tomatoes and slice the tomatoes and mozzarella 1/4-inch thick.
Place the bread slices on a work surface. Spread each slice evely with pesto. Place a layer of mozzarella (about 2 slices) on half of the bread and cover with a layer of tomato. Sprinkle the tomato with salt. Place the remaining slices of bread, pesto side down, on top. Spread the top and bottom of each sandwich with softened butter. Grill the sandwiches in batches on the panini grill for 2-3 minutes, until the mozzarella starts to ooze. Cut each sandwich in half, and serve warm.

On a side note, I was grocery shopping late last night and was thrilled to learn that after the construction is complete on the only grocery store we have in town besides Walmart, the store will be expanding and will include a health food section! There's some more stuff they're adding- I can't remember what, but more space will surely mean more products and more ingredients that I can find! Hooray!