panini love

In continuation with my fall recipe kick {and addiction to my panini press}, I thought you might LOVE to have the recipe for the tasty sandwich my hubby and I enjoyed for lunch yesterday! Another recipe from my October Cooking Light magazine, I give you: Prosciutto, Pear, and Blue Cheese Sandwiches. I am new to the realm of blue cheese {trying to abide by one of the Girl Scout rules: try a food 10 times before avoiding it for the rest of your life...or something to that effect}, and I thought the tang the blue cheese added to the mix was phenomenal! Mmmmm. 5 Thumbs Up! Give it a shot :)

Prosciutto, Pear, and Blue Cheese Sandwiches

Time: 20 minutes
Yield:  4 servings (serving size: 1 sandwich)

Ingredients:
8 slices 100% multigrain bread
1 tablespoon butter, softened {Instead of butter, I just sprayed the panini press with olive oil cooking spray}
3 cups arugula {I used the fresh baby spinach I had in the fridge}
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
1 ripe pear, cored and thinly sliced
2 ounces blue cheese, sliced {I used a container of crumbled blue cheese. It melted fabulously!}

Here are the magazine's directions. But I just popped mine on the panini press and I'm sure you could put it on a skillet a la grilled cheese if you want to :)

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Arrange bread in a single layer on a baking sheet; broil 3 minutes or until toasted. Turn bread slices over; spread butter evenly over bread slices. Broil an additional 2 minutes or until toasted.
3. Combine arugula and shallot in a medium bowl. Drizzle arugula mixture with oil and vinegar; sprinkle with pepper. Toss well to coat. Divide arugula mixture evenly among 4 bread slices, buttered side up; top evenly with prosciutto. Divide pear slices and cheese evenly among sandwiches; top each sandwich with 1 bread slice, buttered side down.

CALORIES 324
FAT 13.8g (sat 5.4g,mono 5g,poly 0.8g)
CHOLESTEROL 26mg
CALCIUM 408mg
CARBOHYDRATE 36.4
SODIUM 706mg
PROTEIN 15g
FIBER 9.7g
IRON 2.1mg

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2010

Now for your feedback!

--> Do you like when I post recipes?

--> Am I posting too many? I don't want to bore you all!

--> Have you tried any of the recipes I have posted?

Hope you are having a fantastic fall week!!! It sure feels like fall here in Colorado!

Cheers :)