Turkey, Bacon, and Cranberry Panini
In the aftermath of a long Thanksgiving Day, one of my favorite next-day treats is this rich and easy sandwich. This pressed panini with turkey, bacon, cranberry sauce, and brie is a study in contrasting flavors and textures, both savory and sweet, creamy and crisp.
Ingredients
4 slices bread
3 oz roast turkey, thinly sliced
2 slices bacon, halved
4 oz brie
¼ cup cranberry sauce
1 tbsp butter
Start by slicing the turkey breast against the grain to quarter inch thickness, and slicing the brie into thin pieces. Cook the bacon slices until crisp using your favorite sandwich-friendly method (oven or microwave are great). Butter the slices of bread, making sure to spread the butter right to the edge of each slice. This will help us get even browning, and protect the edges of the bread from burning.
Place the first slice of bread on a plate butter side down, and begin the assembly process. As when constructing any sandwich, order matters. We will be using the brie as a sort of glue, holding ingredients together when it melts. We begin with a layer of cheese to help bind the bread to the filling, followed by a layer of cranberry sauce and then the turkey.
Place a piece of brie on the turkey to help bind the turkey to the next layer, and then lay on two pieces of bacon. Top with a bit more brie and then with the other slice of bread, butter side out. Repeat with the second sandwich.
Now that the sandwiches are assembled, it is time to cook. If you have a panini press, this is a great opportunity to break it out. If you don’t however, you can still make pressed sandwiches in a pan, provided you can generate some pressure with a heatproof weight. My go-to tool for this is a cast iron skillet, wrapped in aluminum foil to minimize sticking. Place the sandwiches in a cold nonstick pan on medium-low heat, and place the cast iron skillet on top of them.
Cook for about 3 minutes per side, flipping once, until the bread is brown and crisp and the cheese has melted. Slice on the diagonal, the only way to slice a sandwich, and serve with cranberry sauce on the side and perhaps a salad.
Substitutions
This recipe works with roast chicken, but steer clear of deli turkey for this application—it is generally too thinly sliced and heavily salted for this sandwich. The bacon can be substituted for thinly sliced ham. This sandwich is also still great without the bacon.
Other mild melting cheeses can be substituted for brie in this recipe, such as fontina or gruyere.
Recipe
Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 6 min Total Time: 16 min
Difficulty: 1/5
Heat Sources: 1 burner
Equipment: nonstick skillet, heatproof weight
Servings: 2
Ingredients
4 slices bread
3 oz roast turkey, thinly sliced
2 slices bacon, halved
4 oz brie, sliced
¼ cup cranberry sauce
1 tbsp butter
Instructions
1. Cook the bacon until crisp.
2. Butter the slices of bread, and place the bottom slice on a plate, butter side down. Assemble the sandwich in the following order: bread, cheese, cranberry sauce, turkey, cheese, bacon, cheese, bread.
3. Cook in a nonstick pan on medium-low heat, with a heatproof weight pressing the sandwiches down. Cook for 3 minutes per side, until the bread is crisp and the cheese has melted.
4. Slice and serve.
