Breakfast Panini

If you’re like me, every morning when you wake up and see the panini grill sitting there on the kitchen counter, you’re probably tempted to fire it up.  Well there’s really nothing stopping you.  There’s no rule that says panini sandwiches must only be eaten for lunch.  Why not start your day with a breakfast panini?

Now I’m not suggesting that you break out the corned beef and whip up a Reuben for breakfast.  That would be disgusting.  No, why not try something a little more breakfast like, such as the Monte Cristo or the bacon and egg panini that I’m going to talk about today.

Unfortunately, frying an egg on a panini grill doesn’t work out too well.  With all the grooves of the grill, you’re not going to get a great looking egg and it’ll be hard to flip.  Nope, sorry but you’re going to have to get a frying pan out too.  The bacon will cook no problem on the panini grill but not the egg.

One alternative that I do sometimes is to cook the egg in the microwave.  If this sounds gross to you, obviously don’t do it.  But I have no problem with the occasional egg from the microwave especially if it means one less pan to wash before rushing off to the work.

Break the egg in a bowl and beat it with a fork.  Then cook it in the microwave for a minute.  While that’s going, you can throw some bacon on the hot panini grill.  You must cook your bacon before putting it in the sandwich.  Yuck, raw bacon is never a good way to jazz up a panini.

Choosing a bread is as usual, up to you.  Sliced Italian bread or even a ciabatta roll are great ways to go.  And if you live near a Panera Bread, be sure to try one of their loaves with Asiago Cheese mixed in.

Put the bacon and eggs on the bread and place it in the panini maker.  Add some cheddar or American cheese if you like too.  And after a few minutes, you will be enjoying a great tasting breakfast panini