February 10, 2008

Prosciutto and Asiago cheese panini


You don't have to use a panini maker in order to make an Italian panini. In fact, you don't even have to grill it because in Italy panino is just the word you use to say sandwich. Actually, I first saw the idea of grilled panini in France, and usually what you really get in Italy is a wonderful local bread roll with cheese and prosciutto or salami. Simple and delicious. As simple and tasteful as my prosciutto and asiago cheese panini, a mixture of Italian flavors with a wonderful crispy cheese focaccia from Liguria, some Asiago cheese from Veneto and, of course, paper-thin slices of prosciutto di Parma from Emilia-Romagna.

Ingredients
1 thin focaccia bread (8")
5 ounces prosciutto
3 diced Roma tomatoes
4 ounces Asiago cheese
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Just cut the focaccia and layer the prosciutto, the cheese and the diced tomatoes. For the tomatoes, remove the seeds first. Add some olive oil, a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. You can eat it just like that, but you can also heat it in the oven at medium high temperature for a couple of minutes until the cheese is melted. Fresh Asiago cheese, also known as Asiago pressato, is made with whole milk so it is really buttery and creamy, and since it is not aged more than 40 days it has a delicate sweet flavor which complements the salty prosciutto and it melts just like heaven!


Posted by Daziano at 2:46 PM |  
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