Chicken Paninis
Serves 2
Prep Time 1 1/2 hours
They say the way to a mans heart is through his stomach. I believe this to be true. When my husband and I were dating I decided to make this for him. He swooned after one bite. I like to serve this sandwich with fresh cut strawberries drizzled with our Balsamic.
Ingredients list:
2 cups of fresh basil leaves
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded flat
1 roasted red pepper
1 whole head of roasted garlic
1 small firm Roma tomato
1/2 cup of Romano cheese shaved
1 slab of focaccia bread
3 tlsp olive oil plus 1/4 cup for marinate
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
1 tsp salt
Heat oven to 425. Rub olive oil on one head of garlic. Wrap in foil. Place on a cookie sheet with the red pepper. Roast in oven for 15 minutes. You may need to remove the red pepper and continue to roast the garlic until it is soft. Place the red pepper in a paper bag while the garlic bakes.
Remove the red pepper from the bag. Peel, remove seeds and white portions. Cut in half. Remove Garlic from oven and allow to cool. Once the garlic has cooled. Cut the top off and squeeze the garlic into a small bowl. Add salt and mix. Set aside.
Pound out chicken. Add balsamic vinegar and olive oil to a zip lock bag. Add chicken and marinate for at least one hour.
Once the chicken has marinated grill it over medium heat until fully cooked. About 13 minutes.
Drizzle with balsamic once cooked to keep the chicken moist.
Split focaccia bread in half. Cut open and spread roasted garlic mixture and cheese on both sides evenly. Toast open faced in a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add basic leaves to one side and roasted red pepper to the other. Place cooked chicken breast on top of the basil leaves. Add slices of romo tomato. Close up paninis and press down firmly on them with your spatula.
Drizzle a little more balsamic on the panini before you serve it. Serve these hot or cold. I like to make sure the cheese has partially melted before I add on the chicken.