Veggie Panini

I made these yummy grilled vegetable paninis for the family I work for this week. I used pesto but balsamic glaze tastes great as well. The sandwiches can be made 4 hours ahead and wrapped well with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

You Will Need:

1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 to 3 small Japanese eggplants or 1 medium to large regular eggplant cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2/3 slice zucchini, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick
1/3 small red onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
pinch freshly ground black pepper
2 or 3 baguettes (about 2 feet long)
1/4 cup basil pesto
3 ounces mozzarella cheese, drained sliced
2 tomatoes sliced
1/4 cup roasted red pepper
large fresh basil leaves, optional

What to Do:

1. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.

2. Drizzle the oil over the eggplant, zucchini, and onion slices, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Working in batches, grill the eggplant, zucchini, and onions until they are tender and grill marks appear, about 4 minutes per side. Cool completely.

4. Cut each baguette into 6 pieces.

5. Working with one baguette piece at a time, slice in half and spread both sides with the pesto.

6. Working with the bottom slice of the baguette, stack 2 slices of eggplant, 2 slices zucchini, 1 slice onion, 1 slice tomato, 1 slice mozzarella, and 1 slice of roasted pepper.

7. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

8. Place top half of baguette on top and continue with remaining baguette.