Monster Chicken Sausage Panini
4 links chicken sausage, butterflied and pan crisped on both sides
pesto (homemade our your favorite purchased variety)
combo of mozz and grated parmesan cheese
3-4 artichoke hearts, chopped
olive oil spray (trader joe’s makes a good extra virgin kind)
Focaccia
salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Last year I acquired a cast iron pan with grates and a panini press (score!) but prior too that I constructed my own*.  Heat up the pan with the top panini press while you assemble the monster panini.  Cut the foccacia in half, spread a layer of pesto, then a layer of cheese, then the chicken sausage, artichoke hearts, and the final layer of cheese.  Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes if desired.  Spray the bottom of the pan with ev olive oil spray, put the sammy in and spray the top with olive oil before putting the press on.  Keep the heat at low-med for about 10-15 minutes until the cheese is fully melted.  Slice up like a pizza and serve to hungry guests!

You can always swap out the pesto for marinara and the chicken sausage for some veggies such as baby spinach or roasted red pepper.  The possibilities are endless, the thing that counts here is that it’s monster-sized.

*This is how you construct a make shift panini press: heat olive oil in a large skillet, add your sandwich, spray the top of the sandwich with olive oil spray, place a layer of aluminum foil over the panini then top that with a smaller skillet.  To weigh it all down and achieve the “press” put a tea kettle full of water on the top skillet.  The set up is not visually appealing  but it does the job!

I should have taken Anthony Bourdain’s advice and skip the bread and potatoes and focus right in on the meat but i couldn’t deny my love for carbs, especially dipped in delicious meat juices.  We ate ourselves into a food coma and ended up leaving Anotonio’s with an ungodly portion of pork.  We ended our New Bedford experience with a trip to Lydia’s Bakery for some much needed coffee and sweets.

The next morning i had a revelation on what I should do with my leftover mountain of pork: make one of my favorite sandwiches, the Cubano.  I waited a day, then shredded up the pork, chopped my lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles and created an assembly line.

My man crow and I each made two Cubano’s each- one for dinner and one for lunch the following day at work.  Since we both have different preferences, mine being extra pickles and mustard- hold the mayo, and his being extra pork and mayo- hold the mustard, we decided to construct our own.  My kitchen lacks a panini press so i had to brainstorm an alternative.  This is how you construct a make shift panini press: heat olive oil in a large skillet, add the Cubanos, spray the top of the sandwiches with extra virgin olive oil spray, place a layer of aluminum foil over them then top that with a smaller skillet.  To weigh it all down and achieve the “press” put a tea kettle full of water on the top skillet.  The set up is not visually appealing  but it does the job!

Finished Product served w/ a simple slaw