Turkey and Provolone Panini

This Turkey and Provolone Panini is a perfect post-Thanksgiving recipe. Stacked with fresh spinach and tomatoes, melted provolone and salami it will soon be your favorite holiday sandwich!

In the lead up to this month’s big holiday, all of the focus, understandably, is on ‘the big feast.’ If you subscribe to any cooking magazines, or watch any of the various cooking channels, it’s very likely that you can scarcely escape the plethora of ‘tips and tricks’ for putting together the forever elusive ‘perfect’ Thanksgiving, served alongside more tips for saving time than there is time to be saved.

However, let us imagine for a moment that we see our seasonal-lives standing at the edge of midnight. The table once crowded by faces is now a blissfully lonesome shadow of the ‘eve-that-was,’ The ‘big night,’ fretted and toiled over, is now yet just another memory added to the fabric of the mind’s fast-fading record.

While this maybe the end of the holiday’s work and planning, there does remain a single, thankfully quite lighthearted ‘how to’ to be discussed, as I like to call it “Leftover Turkey. Wut do?”

Though what I’m left with, and how much, is rarely a matter I can exert much control over, there are a few predications I can make for myself based purely on experience. First and foremost, I usually have at least a meal or two worth left of turkey – though rarely more, and usually less. Typically, I also have some of the appetizer meats and cheeses left over, or if I don’t then I’ve usually put a few aside for myself – yes, I’m devious that way. Think provolone and salami. Now, add a few dinner rolls, or in this case ciabatta bread, some sliced onion, tomato, fresh baby spinach, and parmesan.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

However, this being the season of big meals and kitchen time, I’m not stopping at simply combining these items on the bread and calling it a day. After all, a cold sandwich on a cold wintry day has about as much appeal as, well, that doesn’t really need metaphor does it?

Which brings us to today’s recipe – Leftover Turkey Panini.

To start out, we begin by slicing the Ciabatta bread, and then rubbing the inside with freshly crushed garlic, which we follow with a bit of olive oil. Then line each side of the bread with provolone and salami, followed by fresh baby spinach, thinly sliced vine ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion, and then finally the turkey. Once that’s done, press the sandwich in a panini maker until your panini is melted to your liking.

Optionally, if you don’t have a panini maker, you can achieve the same effect by setting the sandwich in a cast iron pan with a tab of butter, and then setting a small cast iron pan over the sandwich as described below in the recipe.

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The end result is perhaps my favorite way to use leftover turkey once the big holiday’s over with. What are some of your favorite uses for leftover turkey? We would love to hear from you.

Enjoy with Love!