Season’s Eatings is a column dedicated to eating seasonally and includes recipes and tips that help you make the most of each season’s produce.
Text and photos by Liz of Carpé Season
It’s that time of year again…those Holly-Jolly-In-Between Weeks when you’ve just finished planning, shopping for, and executing your perfect Thanksgiving feast, and now, you are busy decking the halls, wrapping your presents, and endlessly looking for your toddler’s other mitten.
If you’re anything like me, these last few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. It’s in these seasons that I turn to the easiest of dinners in my rotation – you know, the ones that take no more than 15 minutes total to put together and cook before you’re ready to sit down and eat. And at the top of my easy-meal list are paninis. We probably have some panini variation once or twice a week, and today I’m here to tell you about one of my wintery favorites: the bacon, apple, & brie panini.
This panini is perfect for this time of year because just before the holidays is when all of those glorious soft cheeses go on sale. I think my grocery store sells buy-one-get-one-free brie wedges from November-January, and I totally stock up. So you’re not going to break the bank even though this sandwich is filled with melty brie goodness.
Plus…apples. While you may think of apples as more of fall’s thing, the beauty of apples (as well as squash, cabbage, and carrots) is that they age so, so well in your refrigerator. If you wrap each apple in a piece of newspaper (so they’re not touching each other), they’ll keep for months.
So, to your brie and apples, you add crispy bacon, because, well, bacon…plus thinly sliced onions, and jam. We like fig jam, but raspberry jam works great too. Sweet, salty, creamy, with some balance from the onion (and arugula if you should choose to add it)…we love this sandwich. Served with a small side – think easy like fruit, chips, or leftover soup – and this simple meal feels way more gourmet than the 5 minutes it took you to put it together.
Recipe by Carpé Season
(yields 1 sandwich, easily multiplied)
This delicious and super easy panini can be adapted to what you have on hand or what’s on sale at your grocery store for the week. The brie can be subbed out for camembert, the arugula for other greens, the fig jam for raspberry jam, and so on!
Ingredients
- 2 slices bacon, cooked crisp and drained
- 2 slices sturdy bread (sourdough recommended)
- 1-2 tbsp. butter
- 3 oz. brie cheese, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp. onion, thinly sliced
- ½ apple, cored and thinly sliced (Granny Smith recommended)
- 1 tbsp. fig or raspberry jam
- (optional: small handful of arugula or other leafy green)
Instructions
- Cook your bacon until crispy, drain on a paper towel, and set aside.
- Meanwhile, butter one side of each slice of bread. Place the buttered side of one slice down and lay the sliced brie on top of it until it’s mostly covered, reserving 1-2 slices.
- Place the onion, bacon, and apple slices on top of the brie.
- Cut your reserved 1-2 brie slices into small bits and scatter those on top of your apple slices (this will act as your panini’s “glue”).
- Spread the fig jam on the non-buttered side of the second slice of bread, and place that slice, jam-side-down, on top of your sandwich filler ingredients.
- Use one of the following methods to cook your panini: Option 1: Heat a frying pan over med-low heat. Cook each side of the sandwich until golden brown (flipping carefully about halfway through). Option 2: Heat an electric griddle to 300*. Cook each side of the sandwich until golden brown (about 3 mins. per side), flipping carefully. Option 3: Place sandwich in a preheated panini press and grill for about 2 mins.
- Once cooked, slice in half and insert leafy greens, if using.
Great tips.