Fresh Herb Pesto & Fontina Panini
If you know me even a little bit you know I’m a total pesto lovah. Something about the bright green color and fresh flavor that reminds me of Spring! And making pesto is so freakin’ EASY too. It’s so easy you’ll be known as the crazy pesto lady with a food blog that has eight grilled cheese recipes and 4 of them contain pesto! Wait. That’s me. Okay forget the crazy part {because I’m not a crazy person}… then again forget the lady part too… it makes me feel old.
How about I skip to the pesto making… and the Fontina melting? K? Okay good.
Pesto is a great way to use and preserve herbs that you may have lingering in your fridge. When making pesto it’s best you use soft leafy herbs like basil, chervil, chives or parsley, even arugula is a great non-herb option too. Just steer clear of the herbs with woody stems i.e. thyme or rosemary.
Smash and roughly chop a small garlic clove.
Grab a handful of fresh mint and tear the leaves away from the tough stems.
Chop up some fresh basil and add the chopped garlic, fresh mint and chopped basil into a food processor, a mini one works excellent here.
Roughly chop some chives. You only need a handful.
And add them in as well.
Grab yet another handful of fresh parsley and roughly chop it.
Those go into the processor too.
Measure out a half a cup of olive oil.
Turn the food processor on…
To give everything a quick chop.
Turn it back on while gently streaming in the olive oil.
Add in the pecorino, put the lid back on and give it a quick pulse.
And there you have it, pesto!
Butter some bread. I really love sourdough. It gets all golden and crispy. It’s my bread of choice for sure.
Lay down some Fontina.
Spoon on a few tablespoons of the fresh herb pesto on to the cheese.
Place a second slice of buttered bread on top, butter side up.
Annnnnnnd press.
Now, I’m no panini expert. BUT, I pretty sure there is a section of my panini that’s missing some tan lines. I blame my inexpensive panini press. I’m looking into an upgrade… so any suggestions of a good panini press are welcomed.
The bread is one with the cheese which is one with the pesto. It’s fabulous.
The crispy factor is out of this world. Word.
And there you have it. Lunch is served.
Hi. My name is Laurie and I’m a pesto junkie. Thank you.
Fresh Herb Pesto & Fontina Panini
Yield: makes 4
Ingredients:
1 clove of Garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
a handful of Fresh Basil, roughly chopped
a handful of Fresh Mint, tough stems removed
a handful of Fresh Chives, roughly chopped
a large handful of Fresh Parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 cup of Olive Oil
1-2 tablespoons Pecorino Romano or Parmesan Cheese, grated
8 slices of Sourdough Bread
Fontina Cheese, sliced
Butter, room temperature
Directions:
In a small food processor combine the garlic and herbs. Pulse to chop. While the processor is running slowly stream in the olive oil. Add in the grated cheese and pulse to combine.
Preheat a panini press and butter one side of each slice of bread. Lay one slice {butter side down}, top with slices of Fontina and spoon on a few tablespoons of pest and top with the second slice of bread {butter side up}. Press down and grill the panini until deep golden and crispy. Slice and devour.
Over the past few years I’ve been on a mission to find and create recipes that I can make from scratch. I hope you enjoy the recipes on this blog as they are tried and true from my kitchen to yours! (
Sigh. My name is Heather and I'm a pesto junkie too. And this is only feeding my addiction
Oh my gracious! I love any kinda of grown up grilled cheesy sandwiches, but that herby pesto? Get in my belly.
Ugh, I LOVE PESTO. And fontina. You just made me swoon.
What a gorgeous pesto. I best this would be the bomb on some angel hair pasta, too!
I bet you're right!!
That looks pretty darn delicious!
Oh wow..I have to make this! I love how you made it and every time I come my mouth is watering just looking at you photos! Well done!!!!
Wow..i love pesto a lot..this one looks so refreshing..Awesome panini..
Aarthi
http://www.yummytummyaarthi.com/
Nom Noms City! This looks awesome Laurie. I love your pesto, that must have such an amazing flavor.
Instead of buying a new panini press, try making it in your waffle iron. I know it sounds weird, but it works really well and it tells you when its done. The only caveat is I don't know if it would work in a Belgian waffle iron.
Love the fontina and pesto combo.
Mmmm, the fresh pesto looks amazing!
And fontina cheese always works wonders. Great recipe!
I'm literally drooling while reading this. That half-tanned panini looks delicious and I love the pesto idea (I'm sort of a pesto junkie myself!). Your photography is amazing. I only started photography a couple of months ago and was therefore wondering what settings you use?
Hi Antonia! Thank you so much
I always shoot in manual mode. Oh and glad to know I'm not the only pesto junkie out there! Have a great weekend!
I could possibly eat 3 of these right now. Your pesto sounds similar to a chimichurri sauce too. I'm a pesto lover just like you
I think it's the green-ness!
Pesto lovers unite!
This made me soooo hungry! I am waiting until the spring comes so I can make stinging nettle pesto!
Thanks for sharing!
Definitely a fool for pesto. I love the combination of flavors in this one!
Mmm this panini looks lovely!
love the pesto it looks awesome
I LOVE pesto, I LOVE fontina, I LOVE paninis. It's like you posted this just for me
. {If only!}.
I had fontina on a sandwich about 6 months ago for the first time and I will never go to anything else…well maybe goat cheese but still. It is so good. This looks fantastic.
This sounds mouthwatering. As if I wasn't already impatient enough for all my herbs to be ready in the garden! This is on my list to make soon. Thanks!
What a wonderful recipe. It sounds pretty tasty. I bookmarked it to try later. Thanks for sharing.
I love my Breville Panini maker, it's amazing!
I like the special better (vito) xo.
Mint in my grilled cheese? Yeah, I could so dig on that. All the flavors sound fresh and wonderful.