Grilled Eggplant and Pesto Panini

My mouth is still watering from the yummy pesto I shared with you in my last post.  Miss “T” made more than enough to make another meal using her “Italian Parsley Pesto”.  I bought some baby eggplant at the farmers market along with fresh tomatoes on the weekend and was deciding how to prepare them when I remembered the pesto in our frig.

One meal we love around The Orange Bee is Caprese salad and summer is the best time for this healthy salad when the tomatoes are fresh and ripe.  My mind turned to this juicy and delicious dish with thoughts of grilling the eggplant and adding it to the Caprese salad.  Then I had what seemed a better idea, Panini, on the grill, layered with all of the above.

I can’t really call this a recipe but more of a “throw together” meal.  Here is how I made these scrumptious sandwiches.

My honey harvest has taken place, be sure to come back soon to read all about the “2013 Honey Harvest”.

Grilled Eggplant and Pesto Panini
Ingredients:

2 Baby Eggplant, sliced
1 large ripe tomato, sliced
Pesto
Mozzarella, sliced
Foccacia or pizza bread

Wash veggies and pat dry.  Thinly slice eggplant and sprinkle with salt.  Place on paper towels and allow to sit for about 20 minutes.  Pat dry.  Brush both sides of eggplant slices with a bit of olive oil.  Grill eggplant over a medium hot grill until tender.  Remove from grill.

Brush one side of bread with about 1 tablespoon of pesto.  Layer cheese, tomatoes, and eggplant and place second slice of bread on top.  Brush bread with olive oil and place on grill until toasty and cheese begins to melt, flipping once.

Enjoy!