Bacon, Kale & Provolone Paninis

           The Panini Press: lifesaver, dinner maker, head turner. The one machine that will turn a no-good meal into a so-good meal! Yes, this machine is officially on my top 3 kitchen gadget list. Besides grabbing my Hubby, wedding album, and jewelry, I’d grab this, along with my pizza stone, if I had to escape my home in less than 5 minutes. Eesh, let’s hope that never happens and I can continue to enjoy my home and do-dads in the meantime…

            So back on track…Paninis. They rip my mouth to shreds but I’m a sucker for them nonetheless. For me, a good Panini comes down to simple things- a protein, an oozy and sharp cheese, and some sort of condiment or veg to jazz it up a bit. Oh and it was has to be piping hot. The piping hot part is my own quirk, I’ll save you that reasoning for another day.

            And so for this pressed beauty I went with some unconventional players. The kale, being so bulky and filling, was a great filler. And although I do love me some greens, the bacon and onion combo here stole the show. Wowza, the flavor punch these two ingredients packed was wham-bam-thank-you-mam-good. All this good stuff and I haven’t even gotten to the cheese part yet……As expected, it made the sandwich even better by sort of gluing it all together and peeking out just enough to give us that fried-cheese crust thing.

            Needless to say, this recipe will be on rerun mode at our house for quite some time. Enjoy…

Bacon, Kale & Provolone Paninis

Serves: 2

OBJ: TCW be able to use something other than chicken in her Panini

Ingredients:

1 large loaf fresh Italian bread: cut in ½, then each ½ cut open – insides scooped out a bit

1 head of Kale, coarsely chopped

12-16 slices extra sharp Provolone cheese

1 large Vidalia onion, sliced

6 slices bacon, cooked

2 TBS olive oil

S& P: salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese

Procedures:

1. Boiling a large pot of water and cook kale for 3-5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer kale to a bowl filled with ice water. Drain and squeeze kale dry

Heat Panini press now

2. In a medium size sauté pan, heat oil over medium-low flame. Add onions, a heavy pinch S & P and cook for about 8-10 minutes. Add kale, keep heat on medium-low and let cook together for about 5-10 minutes

3. Lay out your two bottom halves of bread, divide the kale/onion mixture over top of each bread bottom and spread to cover

4. Place 3 slices of bacon on top of each half. Top each half with Provolone cheese, about 6-8 pieces each

5. Sprinkle each half with additional S & P. Freshly grate the Parmesan cheese over each half and top each half with the top piece of bread

6. Place on preheated Panini press and cook for about 10 minutes or until golden brown and cheese is oozing