Simple Italian Sandwiches Recipes from Americas Favorite Panini Bar

With nothing more than a panini grill, a toaster oven, and a few simple ingredients, Jennifer and Jason Denton bring the fresh, robust flavors of Italy to your home table in Simple Italian Sandwiches.

Eating in Italy is all about simple pleasures, relaxing with good company, and savoring fresh, no-frills foods like traditional toasted panini, crustless tramezzini, and crunchy bruschetta. In Simple Italian Sandwiches, Jennifer and Jason Denton offer up a collection of recipes for these classic bread-based dishes, plus condiments, antipasti, and salads that are easy enough for the novice cook yet tasty enough for anyone with a sophisticated palate. From Soppressata, Fontina, and Arugula Panini, to Mozzarella and Basil Pesto Tramezzini, to Roasted Butternut Squash, Walnut, and Asiago Bruschetta, the dishes can be prepared in minutes and require minimal cooking.

With simplicity the governing rule for today’s busy schedules, Simple Italian Sandwiches is the ideal cookbook for anyone who wants to prepare vibrant, flavorful food for family and friends, and then sit down and enjoy it with them.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Great Little Book!
I recently bought a pannini maker from Amazon and I am delighted and having a ball with it!..you can use your imagination and come up with lots of different variations to do what you want and make that special grilled sandwich…this book has some nice recipes for condiments and since I have a cookbook collection..this was a nice addition!..

Thanks Amazon!

5 Stars super book
I’d not heard of this panini bar but loved reading the history..

This is an adorable family who follows tradition; can’t go wrong with people like that.

Very good recipes, easy to follow,

would make a superb gift.

2 Stars You don’t need this book to make a panini
I do believe that at some point everyone will own their own restaurant, have a Food Network TV show and /or their own cookbook. This book is evidence of this.

The authors are friends and partner’s of Mario Batali. They are not Italian. They have been to Italy and had a panini. They opened up a cute little panini bar in NYC and charge way too much money I am sure for a simple sandwich. I think it is sweet how they try to pretend to be regular people with their no kitchen little panini place even though they are part of the Batali business empire. Strangely – even though the recipes are so simple a monkey could crank out panini’s they needed a co-author. I don’t know for what since almost all the recipes read like this:

Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil Panini

Put sliced tomato on ciabbatta roll with mozzarella and a few leaves of basil. Grill in panini press. Slice in half and serve.

It is a small book with only a few photos of food but a bunch of those arty photos of a restaurant chalkboard, a few people in the sandwich shop, a drizzle of oil, a close-up of a dining check. I mean – please. How about some photos of sandwiches? Duh?

Panini’s are really in right now and there are many books coming out this year on them. My recommendation is try to catch Wolfgang Puck on HSN when he is hawking his panini grill – he will show you more panini’s then you will ever need to know in about fifteen minutes.

5 Stars Delicious Panini and Tramezzini
I just returned from Roma. One of the things we ate the most for lunch was Tramezzini, due to the heavy availability of them everywhere. They almost always offer to grill it for you. We also noticed that nearly every one we saw had sliced boiled eggs on it. I had one that was a simple chicken salad with green olives, sliced hard boiled eggs, slice of cheese, and rocket (arugula). The sandwich was fantastic. My girlfriend had one that was just bologna and artichokes and it was out of this world. We don’t even like bologna but for some reason in Italy, it’s edible. I haven’t actually made a recipe from this book yet, for it is a gift for my girlfriend and she will be receiving it tonight. I did however read through it and was very happy to see the way it was written. From the basic ingredients list and the several trips I’ve taken to Italy in my life, I know that this is one great book. If I can remember that I wrote this, I’ll update it in a month or so.

3 Stars Not many paninis
I was a little disappointed with this book. I thought it would have more panini recipes, but there are other cold sandwiches featured, too.

The ingredients for the paninis are not commonly found and a special trip to the “gourmet store” is required. I did manage to find a few of the ingredients in one of the larger groceries in our area. The sandwiches that I did make, I had to substitute a few of the ingredients, but they were pretty good.

Buy/More Info

Panini Express 70 Delicious Recipes Hot Off the Press

Panini are little sandwiches that are put through a press that warms up the filling and gives the bread a delicious grilled flavor. Ten years ago, you would have had to get on a plane and gone to Italy to enjoy one, but today you can find panini everywhere–in Italian restaurants, restaurant chains like Panera, even higher-end supermarkets are selling panini in their take-out foods sections. Because its popularity, the panini press (think a small George Foreman Grill) has become the hottest selling small appliance on the market. Everyone is selling them. Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table carry brands like LeCreuset, All-Clad, and Krups, while Target sells a Hamilton Beach model for less than $50 and Wal-Mart a Breadman version for $39.95.

Panini Express contains easy recipes for 70 deliciously different sandwiches you can make using your panini press. Panini Express does not confine itself only to authentic Italian Panini recipes, but instead will explore a world of flavors (like the Catskill Cubano with ham, turkey, Swiss, and a hoisin-lime dressing). In addition to the sandwich recipes, there are recipes for four homemade breads if you want your sandwiches completely from scratch, as well as for mayonnaises, spreads, and other tasty sandwich slathers to up the flavor quotient.

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars No good here
This cookbook doesn’t do me very much good here where I live. That is because the stores don’t carry a lot of the stuff called for. Maybe if I lived in New York City or some other big city it might be okay.

5 Stars Great Resource
Yes, this is this is by the Daniel Leader who wrote Bread Alone and Local Breads, two incredible books on authentic artisan bread baking. This sandwich book is a wonderful resource for home bakers and non-bakers alike. The recipes for the spreads and chutneys are fantastic and can be used for dishes other than sandwiches.

You might think, “Doesn’t everyone know how to build a sandwich??” Well, yes, but Leader’s combinations are particularly delicious. Some are obvious, but are still excellent inspriration for when you have leftovers you do not know what to do with.

I definitely recommend this book. Unfortunately, there are numerous typographical errors. Fortunately his formulae are reliable. (Local Breads is full of similarly annoying and distracting errors, so hopefully Leader’s editors will become more vigilant in future editions and for future books).

5 Stars Excellant Value
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great panini recipes, along with great spread recipes. Simple and straight forward, this is a book that should be recommended with panini grills.

4 Stars Beyond the standard fare
This is a great addition to my cook book collection. The sandwiches in this book are off the beaten path by using odd ingredients. The several that we have tried so far have been great! There are recipes for different types of breads and sauces that I suggest using otherwise the sandwich will not come out right. Especially when it comes to the different breads. We tried a focaccia bread from Panera but it was to thick. The different breads were the hardest part of the recipes. All in all I am glad that I have this book. We have had a lot of fun with it.

4 Stars Great Birthday Gift
This book prooved to be a perfect Birthday Gift for the cook. Delivery was received on time and the book was in mint condition. Very Happy with the purchase.

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