Hello and Happy Mother’s Day!  I hope you all have lovely Mother’s Day today! I am so grateful for my amazing mother and mother-in-law and of course to be blessed to be a mom myself. I adore my two little boys and never knew just how special it would be to be a mother. My kids make me so happy!

My mom believe it or not is not a fan of chocolate or even sugar! It’s crazy that I am her daughter because I sure love to bake and love a good treat. (Chocolate Chip Cookies are my favorite!) One thing my mom does love is good food that doesn’t take long to cook and so this recipe is dedicated to her! This Pesto Chicken Panini is super quick to make and so good! It’s perfect for a quick dinner or even lunch.

I am not even fancy when I make it. I just use regular sandwich bread but it would be delicious with a bread like sourdough or ciabatta. I have a similar recipe, Pesto, Mozzarella and Tomato Grilled Cheese. I wanted to make that recipe but didn’t have a tomato so I thought it’d be a fun twist to add grilled chicken instead. It was so good! I love how this tastes. Maybe next time I’ll use tomato and grilled chicken! Mmm!

This panini is so simple and so good. Bread, pesto, grilled chicken, and mozzarella. That’s it! You can even  cook the chicken up to a few days in advance and this panini will take no time at all to make!  If you have a panini maker then go ahead and use that but since I don’t I used our cast iron griddle. If you don’t have either just use a skillet!

Enjoy!

Chicken Pesto Panini

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Ingredients

• Bread (sourdough, ciabatta or sandwich bread)
• Pesto
• *Cooked chicken, sliced (season with salt and pepper)
• Mozzarella cheese, sliced

Instructions

1. Set stovetop grill or a skillet to medium heat. Assemble sandwich by spreading pesto on one piece of bread. Top with sliced chicken. Layer on the mozzarella and top with a piece of bread. Drizzle olive oil over skillet’s surface and place sandwiches on the hot skillet.
2. Place another heavy skillet over the top to form a “press.” Turn after 2 to 3 minutes and replace weight. The sandwich is ready when golden brown and mozzarella has melted around the edges.

Notes

*You’ll need about 1 chicken breast per 2 panini’s. I grilled my chicken but you can cook it however you'd like.