"Chicken" Panini with Pesto, Roasted Asparagus and Fontina

Cheesy goodness! The flower came from the bunch of pea shoots - a delicate accent on a monster sandwich!

This is for you, Rob G.! Among the unprepared Quorn options of meatballs, ground beef, chicken strips or chicken cutlet, I couldn't pass up the challenge of using the cutlet. One thing I have not been able to do as a vegetarian is a recipe using a piece of meat like steak or chicken breast so this was exciting! But I haven't had a chicken breast for about 8 years so what to do with it?!? I thought of a homey, cheesy sandwich using the chicken, some fabulous ciabatta bread with roasted garlic baked in, marinated, roasted asparagus, Italian fontina and a pesto made from pea shoots. Yes, pea shoots. I had never heard of such a vegetable until it came with last week's CSA delivery. It's similar to arugula, but not as bitter. Of course a homemade basil or arugula pesto would be an easy substitute. This is a BIG sandwich we ate for brunch, but go ahead and cut the sandwich in half for a more normal-sized portion to serve four.

"Chicken" Panini with Pesto, Roasted Asparagus and Fontina

Servings: 2 MONSTER sandwiches or 4 regular portions

Time: 30 minutes active; just under 60 minutes total

Price: <$10.00 total; ~$2.50 per serving for 4 servings

Nutrition (per serving if doing 4 servings):

Calories: 445

Protein: 28.3g

Fat: 20.4g

Saturated Fat: 9.1g

Carbohydrates: 40.1g

Fiber: 2.7g

Sodium: 1,223.9mg

Cholesterol: 51.4mg

2 Tbsp EVOO, divided

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp SnP, each, divided

1/2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1/2 lb asparagus, washed and trimmed

Beautiful, thin asparagus

1/2 bunch pea shoots or basil, washed and thick stems removed

2 Tbsp asiago or parmesan, grated

1/3 lb Italian (or French) fontina, sliced

2 Quorn "chicken" cutlets

Not exactly attractive, but I bet it would take a marinate very well...

something to try for next time.

Loaf of Ciabatta bread, cut into a length to hold "chicken" and asparagus (about 1/2 of a third - does that makes sense?!)

1. Start by roasted the asparagus. Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line the asparagus in a casserole dish and add 1 Tbsp EVOO, 2 cloves of garlic, vinegar, and 1/8 tsp SnP, each. Toss gently and roast in the oven for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, make the pesto. Put the pea shoots or basil in a food processor with remaining Tbsp EVOO, parmesan or asiago, remaining clove of garlic, and remaining 1/8 tsp SnP, each. Process until smooth adding more olive oil if needed. Set aside.

3. You can use a panini press to grill the sandwich or I have fashioned a crude version using a grill pan and foil-wrapped brick. Heat the grill pan or panini press and prepare the sandwiches when asparagus is finished roasting.

Spread pesto on one side of the bread. Layer with "chicken" cutlet, sliced fontina, and asparagus. Grill about 5-10 minutes on each side until cheese has melted and bread is browned and crispy.