Chipotle & Cilantro Panni

I have a little girl sitting here talking to me while chewing and drooling on her fist and a little boy with his hat on sideways and his airplane sweater begging me to get him yogurt, so I am going to quickly finish this post that I have almost finished and post it. Yep, I am being lazy.

Despite being lazy, this is a fabulous sandwich. It is the sandwich I was rhapsodizing about a week or two ago. Sometimes I make the different components up on Monday and then eat this for lunch all week long. I highly doubt this is something that anyone would recommend as health food, but sometimes, you have to let pure goodness have some say in what you eat as well.

You start by making a cilantro pesto with, (you guessed it!) cilantro. And a jalepeno, some garlic, some lime juice, and a little olive oil. Whizzle it all up in the food processor, drizzling the olive oil in at the end.

Then you make chipotle mayonnaise. Mix mayonnaise with minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and a touch of sugar.

Then you take sourdough bread, slice it, obviously, and butter each slice. Then try to juggle the buttered side while spreading cilantro pesto on one slice and chipotle mayonnaise on the other. Believe me, not getting butter on your hand is not really an option.

Lay one of the slices in the skillet. Layer cheese and meat (the recipe calls for rotissere chicken, but I have used regular chicken and venison cooked into a patty and they all are good. The rotissere chicken is probably the very best flavor though.) Put a bit more cheese on if you are feeling cheesy and plop the other covered piece of bread on top of the whole deal. Then you carefully flip it without letting anything fall out. Ha! Or you can use a panni press if you are hipper and cooler than me. Just writing this, I remember that once upon a time, I took a dutch oven, covered the bottom in tin foil and then weighted the sandwich down with that so it gets that squishy panni effect.

Just get it cooked and melty somehow so you can eat it.

It is good. 

Chipotle and Cilantro Panni

(Cuisine at Home)

For the Cilantro Pesto:

2 cups cilantro leaves and stems, packed

4 garlic cloves

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

Juice of half a lime

pinch of salt

2 T olive oil

Pulse Cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, lime juice, and salt in food processor until minced. Scrape sides. With processor running, drizzle in oil.

For the Chipotle Mayonnaise:

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Mix it up.

4 slices sourdough bread

Cheese

3 oz rotisserie chicken

Butter if you aren't using a panini press

Slap it all together. Toast it up. Eat it up. Repeat each day as necessary.