Chicken Florentine Panini

There are a lot of steps involved in this recipe, but the end result is great and worth the effort.


Ingredients for 4 sandwiches

1 tube refrigerated pizza dough
1 (9 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped red onion
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
4 slices provolone cheese

Instructions

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll pizza dough and place in ungreased 15x10 inch baking sheet.
Starting in center, press dough out to the edges of the pan.
Bake for 10 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes.

Cook spinach according to package instructions. Drain well. Squeeze out any additional water with your hands or paper towels.

In small bowl, combine mayonnaise and one minced garlic clove.

Heat oil in skillet. Saute onions until tender. Add sugar and vinegar. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 - 5 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone.

Flatten each chicken breasts by placing in a plastic bag and pounding with a meat mallet until about 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and remaining minced garlic clove.

Spray skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat until hot. Add chicken and cook about 8 minutes, turning once,  until browned and cooked thoroughly.

Cut cooled pizza crust into 4 rectangles. Spread each with 1 Tablespoon of the mayonnaise mixture. Top two of the rectangles with chicken, spinach, onion mixture and cheese. Top with remaining crust rectangles, mayonnaise side down.

Heat large skillet over medium heat. Place sandwiches on skillet. Place a small heavy skillet on top of the sandwiches to press them. Cook 1 - 2  minutes or until crisp and heated through, turning once.

Cut each sandwich in half to make four sandwiches.




This recipe was included in the 2002 Pillsbury Bake-Off.