Italian cuisine is popular worldwide, at least in the parts of the world I have been to. Some of the popular foods from this cuisine are pizza, pastas, gelato and tiramisu to name a few. I had a difficult time deciding on what to cook and I also considered other countries starting with ‘I’. But I came back to Italy and made some Panini.

Panini is an Italian sandwich made with ciabatta, rosetta or a baguette. As I was looking for Italian recipes, I found a recipe for Panini that used fresh mozzarella and prosciutto to make the sandwich / Panini. I had both the ingredients on hand and decided to make these quick and easy Panini. I ate them for dinner and made them again for lunch the following day. I absolutely loved them and U thought they were ok. He usually doesn’t like crusty bread and prefers soft bread.

The key to good Panini is using the best quality of ingredients; fresh mozzarella, good quality prosciutto, extra virgin olive oil and any fresh crusty Italian bread or a baguette. I used a baguette, vine ripe tomatoes and fresh arugula for this panini.

Source: Italian Food Forever
Preparation: 10 minutes
Yields: 3

Ingredients:

• 6 Slices of Bread, each less than ½” thick
• 3 slices Ripe Tomato (I used vine ripe tomato)
• 4-6 leaves of Basil
• 3 slices of Fresh Mozzarella (I had mozzarella balls. I used 2-3 balls sliced)
• 4 – 6 slices of Prosciutto
• Arugula
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt & Black Pepper

Preparation:

• On three slices of bread, place tomatoes.
• Place basil leaves on tomatoes.
• Place mozzarella on the basil leaf.
• Arrange prosciutto on the cheese.
• Arrange arugula and drizzle extra virgin olive oil on each Panini.
• Sprinkle salt and pepper. (Salt and pepper can also be sprinkled on tomato instead of arugula.)
• Top each Panini with extra bread slice and serve.

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