Fontina Mushroom Panini Food

MUSHROOM, SPINACH, AND FONTINA PANINI

Steps:

• In a saucepan, melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter over med-high heat; add in mushrooms and shallots; saute until mushrooms are softened and release their juices, 3-5 minutes.
• Continue to cook, stirring often, until most of the liquid is absorbed, 2-3 minutes longer.
• Stir in the Cognac, chopped tarragon, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Cook/stir, for 1 minute; let cool slightly.
• Preheat the sandwich grill; melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan over med-high heat.
• Place bread slices on a work surface and brush 1 side of each with the melted butter.
• Turn and layer 1/4 of the cheese, half of the mushrooms, and half of the spinach on the unbuttered side of two of the bread slices.
• Divide the remaining cheese on top; place the remaining 2 bread slices on top, buttered sides up, and press to pack gently.
• Place the panini in the grill; close the top plate, and cook until the bread is golden and toasted, the spinach is wilted, and the cheese is melted, 3-5 minutes; serve immediately.

FONTINA AND MUSHROOM CROSTINI

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the cremini, shiitake and oyster mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes. Add the shallots and sweat until translucent. Add the wine and thyme. Cook until the wine has reduced and the pan is dry, about 5 minutes. Remove the thyme.
• Heat a grill pan over medium heat. Grill the slices of baguette until golden brown. Rub the bread slices with the garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt. Place the bread on a baking sheet. Place 1 to 2 slices of cheese on each piece of bread.
• Broil until the cheese is melted, 2 to 3 minutes. Top each toast with 1 heaping tablespoon of the mushroom mixture. Sprinkle with chives.

MUSHROOM, GOAT CHEESE AND TRUFFLE OIL PANINI

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and 2 tablespoons thyme and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until they are browned and soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let them cool for about 15 minutes. Put the mushrooms into a food processor and pulse a few times until they are finely chopped. (Alternately, you can chop them on a board with a knife.) Scrape them into a bowl. Crumble in the goat cheese and add the remaining thyme. Pour in the truffle oil, if using, and mix well to combine.
• Cut the focaccia into 4 pieces, slice them horizontally, and drizzle with some olive oil. On the bottoms place 1/4 of the mushroom mixture and top with some arugula. Put the tops on and gently press each sandwich to flatten it slightly. Drizzle some more olive oil over the tops.
• Place each sandwich on a preheated panini press and grill until the bread is toasted and the cheese begins to melt, about 5 minutes. Alternately, preheat a dry cast iron or non stick pan. Place the sandwich in the pan and weight it down with another pan or a clean brick wrapped in foil. Grill 5 minutes, turn the sandwich over, re-weight it, and grill for another 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

POLENTA WITH FONTINA AND MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Bring 3 3/4 cups water, 1/4 cup heavy cream and 1 teaspoon kosher salt to a boil; whisk in 3/4 cup instant polenta. Reduce the heat to medium; cook, stirring occasionally, until creamy, 10 minutes. Stir in 1 cup grated fontina. Saute 12 ounces sliced mixed mushrooms and 2 teaspoons chopped rosemary in butter until tender, 6 minutes; stir in 1¿4 cup heavy cream and season with salt and pepper. Cook until thickened; toss with chopped parsley. Serve over the polenta.

MUSHROOM, SPINACH AND FONTINA PANINI

Steps:

• Mince the shallots to yield about 1/4 cup total. Chop the tarragon leaves to yield about 2 tablespoons. Cut the fontina cheese into thin slices.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and shallots; cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have softened and released their juices; those juices will be reabsorbed later as you continue cooking.
• Add the cognac, tarragon and salt and pepper to taste; cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring to combine. Turn off the heat, leaving the saucepan on the stove top.
• Heat a panini press according to the manufacturer's directions. (Alternatively, heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat and wrap aluminum foil around the bottom of a filled teakettle for pressing the sandwiches; a bacon press also may be used.)
• Place the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a small microwavable container; microwave on HIGH just until the butter has melted.
• Place the bread slices on a work surface covered with a piece of wax paper or parchment paper. Brush the top of each slice with the melted butter, then turn 4 of the slices over. Use half of the cheese to build a layer of cheese on the 4 inverted slices, then divide the mushroom mixture evenly over the 4 cheese-topped slices.
• Divide the spinach evenly among the portions, creating a layer on top of the mushroom mixture. Divide the remaining cheese evenly, layering it on top of the spinach leaves. Top each portion with one of the remaining slices of bread, buttered sides facing up, to form sandwiches. Press gently to pack down the sandwiches.
• Place 1 or 2 sandwiches at a time on the panini press (depending on the size of the bread and the machine); press and close. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the bread is toasted, the spinach has wilted and the cheese has melted. Cut in half, then transfer to individual plates and serve hot. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches.

FONTINA & MUSHROOM PANINI

Steps:

• Heat butter in a saute pan til very hot, then add mushrooms. You want them to brown some, but not to give off a lot of liquid. Add sage, salt and pepper, til soft, but not too limp. Set aside.
• Butter one side of bread slices, place two in pan, sprinkle with half of the cheese, top with mushrooms, sprinkle with the rest of the cheese, and top with bread, butter side up.
• In my panini maker it's about 3-4 minutes for how I like it.
• To cook in a pan---cook over medium low heat until the bread is toasty, turn (carefully!) and weight the sandwich with another pan (or press down with a spatula) til golden.

ROSEMARY, GARLIC AND MUSHROOM PANINI

Steps:

• Saute garlic and rosemary in a mixture of butter and olive oil until fragrant.
• Add mushrooms, salt and pepper, and cook until mushrooms soften.
• Discard garlic and rosemary.
• Divide mushrooms and cheese among 4 slices bread.
• Top with remaining bread and toast using a panini pan or grill.

CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM PANINI

Steps:

• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; coat pan with cooking spray.
• Add mushrooms and garlic to pan, sauté 3 minutes or until mushrooms are tender; remove from heat and set aside.
• Combine mayonnaise (with crushed red pepper flakes), tomatoes, and capers in a mini food processor; pulse until well combined.
• Spread 1 T mayonnaise mixture over each of 4 bread slices; top each with 1/4 cup mushroom mixture, 2 oz chicken, 1 cheese slice and 1 bread slice.
• Heat a large grill pan over medium heat.
• Coat pan with cooking spray.
• Add sandwiches to pan; place a cast-iron skillet or other heavy skillet on top of sandwiches, press gently to flatten sandwiches.
• Cook 2 minutes on each side or until bread is toasted (leave cast-iron skillet on top of sandwiches while they cook.).
• E N J O Y!