We ate breakfast panini. To sweeten our presence, these pals needed a good breakfast. A good breakfast that was not just tasty, moderately healthy, and belly-filling, but also portable. The sort of breakfast that you can hold in one hand, with a cup of coffee in the other and a foot free to nudge a baby away from a power cord or an overstimulated cat. This hot, gently oozy sandwich completely fit the bill.
I threw thinly sliced tofu in a simple marinade the night before and then fried it up in melted butter the next morning while I waited for everyone else to wake up. Wrapped in foil, the assembled panini were much appreciated by all the bleary-eyed soccer fans.
They were so good in fact that I went home and made more to stick in the freezer to reheat for second breakfast on an as-needed basis. Two days later they were gone, and I have made them since on a somewhat weekly basis, much to the happiness of the entire family. This is a good, good sandwich.
Breakfast Panini
You know how you're supposed to read through the entire recipe before you start making it? You should totally do that here. There's a couple weird things I'll tell you about right now though, just in case you absolutely refuse to follow directions. 1) Don't skimp on the butter, even though it might look like a lot - you're going to use what's left in the pan to become a thick, kind of cheesy, gravy. This gravy is crucial to the deliciousness and sticking-together-ness of the sandwich. 2) Don't chuck the marinade - that's going to go into the gravy too. 3) Have your rolls ready to receive hot, drippy tofu - you don't want to waste any of the good stuff - let that flavor soak into your bread.
makes 6 sandwiches
- 1 block extra firm tofu, cut into 12 1/4 inch slices
- 3 ounces spinach
- 1/2 small red onion
- 6 panini rolls
- 4 tablespoons non-dairy butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup soy milk
- tofu marinade:
- 1/4 cup bragg's or soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon agave nectar
- tiny pinch of turmeric
- tiny pinch of paprika
- ground pepper
While the tofu cooks, measure your flour and have it ready to add to the pan when the tofu is done. In a glass measuring cup, have your milk ready too and add 1/2 cup of the reserved marinade to the milk.
Now's also a good time to wash and drain your spinach and slice your onion as thinly as possible. Cut the rolls in half too so that they're ready to receive cooked tofu.
When your tofu is just about ready, heat the panini grill. Remove the tofu from the cast iron skillet, placing two slices of tofu on the bottom half of each roll.
Now add the flour to the melted butter left in the skillet. Stir and cook for about a minute, until the flour is peanut-y golden brown. Stir in the milk and marinade combo and simmer, stirring continuously, until you have a very thick gravy, about 1 minute. (It will thicken considerably as it cools, but you want it spreadable so it doesn't immediately ooze off your sandwich.)
Layer several slices of onion and a small handful of spinach on top of the tofu. Spread the other half of the rolls with your thick gravy. Put the halves together and grill in a panini press, in the George Forman grill that you got for your wedding, or in a pan with another pan weighted down on top.
Serve hot, or wrap in napkins to take on a breakfast picnic, or freeze to eat all week.
