An Italian Grilled Cheese Panini, made with flavor loaded smoked mozzarella cheese, artichoke hearts and baby spinach.
These spinach artichoke grilled cheese panini are true Italian sandwiches. Crispy on the outside with creamy smoked mozzarella on the inside, hugging tightly with tender artichoke hearts and fresh baby spinach.
Who can resist right ? Definitely not me. Grilled cheese panini, pizza and bruschetta are my weakness, and if I eat them they better be pretty amazing.
For these spinach artichoke grilled cheese panini I started with a nice dense and crusty Italian bread, one that holds together nicely and also crisps up in the cast iron skillet.
To make them the ultimate grilled cheese panini you ever had, I used a garlic clove to rub over the crispy bread as soon as it comes out of the skillet. Much like making bruschetta, just a little touch of garlic gives it that “ je ne sais quoi “ that brings it all together, yet you can’t really put your finger on it.
The BatMan says it’s legit, so it must be true! Ha!
We already agree that spinach and artichokes make a fabulous pair, now cover them up in creamy layers of smoked mozzarella in between technically pieces of bruschetta, and you’ve got a keeper in your hands! I wouldn’t share if I were you 😉
Note worthy: I’ve also made these grilled cheese panini with sautéed spinach instead of fresh, and tough it really was delicious you are inevitably going to have more of a soggy sandwich if you go that route. Your call!
On a side note, I’m so sorry to those of you who weren’t able to access the blog the past couple of days. We had a glitch in our coding and the site was down, part of the growing pains. But we are back up and running now, and looking prettier too ? Hope you love it as much as I do.
To make up for that I send you these virtual spinach artichoke grilled cheese panini and a nice bottle of Vino to wash them down with! ~ Florentina Xo’s
- 4 slices crusty rustic bread
- 5 oz smoked mozzarella cheese sliced
- 5 oz artichoke hearts quartered and dried well on paper towels
- 3/4 c baby spinach
- 1 clove garlic peeled
- A pinch of sea salt
- 1 tbsp organic butter at room temperature
- Preheat a large cast iron griddle or grill pan on medium flame.
- Butter one side of each slice of bread with a thin layer of the butter.
- Assemble the spinach and artichoke panini by starting with a few slices of the smoked mozzarella, topped with a few artichoke harts quarters sprinkled with a pinch I sea salt, half of baby spinach and topped with more smoked mozzarella and a slice of bread.
- Place the panini buttered side down on the hot cast iron griddle. Loosely cover with aluminum foil and turn the flame down to low.
- Cook the panini for a few minutes on each side until golden brown and cheese has melted. Make sure to gently flip it using a wide spatula.
- Once you remove it from the pan, use the garlic clove to gently rub the top of the panini.
- Allow the cheese to set a little bit before cutting or biting into the panini.
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Rach's Recipes
April 12, 2016 at 8:25 pmThis was definitely one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I ever made. I tripled the garlic and dipped it in some chunky tomato soup but it’s just as mouthwatering on its own. Crazy good! And I love that it has greens too! Thank you!
Florentina
April 12, 2016 at 9:19 pmSo glad to hear ! Also one of my faves together with a roasted tomato soup.
Sue
April 1, 2017 at 5:20 amI love this panini but I also use cream cheese or any cheese I have in the refrigerator.
Florentina
April 5, 2017 at 12:05 pmThanks Sue, always a good way ti use up any cheese you have in the fridge 🙂