To be completely honest, there is no rule that says that panini has to be cooked, let alone grilled. We’ve turned it into an expensive grilled cheese sandwich, grilled hot, and full of flavor. The secret that the appliance makers don’t want you to know is that your backyard grill is perfect for making panino sandwiches.
Bread: A good bread for panini is a heavy, flavorful bread. In Italy there isn’t a difference between the sandwich panini and the bread. The bread needs to be dense enough to hold together and flat enough to grill evenly. A dinner roll isn’t going to do it. Foccacia and Ciabatta are great for panino sandwiches. Any bread loaded with herbs is also good to use. Untimately, you will want to avoid tasteless white bread.
Meat: Traditionally, panini are made with cured meats like salami, pepperoni, or prosciutto. Using cured meats doesn’t require it to be fully cooked once on the grill. You will want to warm the sandwich through. While you can use any meat it is important to pick one that is thinly sliced. If you want to add more, do so in layers. The same goes for cheese. By using thinly sliced cheese it will melt easier.
Vegetables: Since this is a hot sandwich, you probably don’t want to load it up with lettuce. If you really want something good try fired roasted peppers. You can also use pretty much any vegetable that works well on the grill. By grilling the vegetables before they go into the sandwich you will get a lot of extra flavor.
The Press: When you buy a panini press, you’re getting a two sided electric grill to cook and press the sandwich. While the pressing isn’t really important you can do this easily enough on your grill. Some people will tell you to fill a pie tin with sand or potatoes, but guess what, your spatula will do the trick. All you'll need is a firm press on the top of the sandwich for about 10 seconds to get that panini sandwich feel.
Grilling Panini: What you want is a two layer fire for grilling your panini. What this means is a hot grill with low direct heat. If you are using a gas grill have one burner on low and the others on high. If you are using charcoal, bank most of the coals away from the area you will be cooking on. This will give your grill a good intense heat without burning the sandwiches. You will also need a clean, well oiled cooking surface so the sandwiches won't stick.
Once the sandwiches are assembled, place them over the low heat area of your grill and close the lid. Wait no more than one minute. Open the lid and press each sandwich down with your spatula for the count of ten then turn them over. Close the lid again for another minute then open, press for 10 more seconds and remove. Now you have perfect panini sandwiches.
