Pesto Tofu Panini

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I discovered this tasty sandwich at an All-Natural grocery store in the small town I was living in New Hampshire awhile back, and I am obsessed with it. I found myself buying it at least once a week so I decided to try and make my own so I can have it whenever I want for cheaper. Below is what I came up with and I hope you like it as much as I do! When I have a food truck one day, this sloppy beauty will be on the menu for all to try.

Pesto Tofu Panini

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Yield: 1 Sandwich

Author: Jessica Morton

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 40 Min

Ingredients

• 2 slices of sourdough bread (I like Trader Joe’s).
• 4 tablespoons of Trader Joe’s vegan kale pesto.
• 2 slices of vegan American cheese slices (I like Daiya American slices).
• 1 sliced small to medium tomato (I use a roma tomato, but beefsteak will do)
• Sliced red onion. The original recipe had them caramelized, but I have also made this with them raw, and it is just as good.
• About half a block of extra firm tofu seasoned with garlic powder, pepper, onion salt, and Savory Spice blend from the How Not to Die cookbook.
• Earth Balance butter to butter outside of sandwich.

Instructions

1. Press and slice up about half a block of tofu. Season tofu with above spices on each side.
2. While pressing tofu, slice tomato and onion.
3. If you wanted your onions sautéed instead of raw, this would be the time to cook them up in whatever you used to cook onions (i.e. olive oil or vegan butter)
4. Pan sear tofu on both sides until golden brown and place aside when done.
5. Heat up your panini press or you can use the same pan you cooked the tofu if you don’t have a press to cook the sandwich.
6. Butter the outsides of one slice of bread with earth balance butter and place it on the press/in the pan. Spread the kale pesto on the inside of the bread and lay the sliced cheese, tomatoes, red onion, tofu, and another slice of cheese on top. Spread the pesto on the inside of the other slice and place on top of the rest of the sandwich. Butter the outside of the top piece of bread and close press if using one.
7. Cook sandwich until golden brown on each side and warmed through.

Notes:

If using a pan to make this sandwich, I wont butter the top slice of bread until I am about to flip it. This way I can use my spatula to press the sandwich down to help give that panini press effect. 

Calories

828

Fat (grams)

44

Sat. Fat (grams)

15

Carbs (grams)

90

Fiber (grams)

5

Sugar (grams)

8

Protein (grams)

25

Sodium (milligrams)

1358

Cholesterol (grams)

0

This sandwich is large so I usually only eat half in one sitting. You could easily replace the pesto for a homemade, oil-free version and that will help with the fat and sodium content.

Tofu, Pesto, Sandwich

Sandwich

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