Pesto Meatball Panini

Italian deli sandwich shops are in fashion with the masses at the moment here in Melbourne/Naarm. The cross-sections look like works of art and being gluten-free, it's giving me FOMO. So this is me trying to fix that.

I give you: an Italian meatball panini with a lemon parsley pesto and gooey non-dairy mozzarella. The meatballs are plump, juicy, savoury, spiked with fennel seed and the pesto's bright and luscious, so it isn't too rich to eat.

This recipe makes enough meatballs & pesto for 4 modest paninis – but you don't have to cook all the meatballs at once. You could freeze the remaining balls to go with pasta another day.

You can sub the pesto for something store-bought, however the addition of parsley & lemon really lifts it – so I recommend going to the extra effort and making it from scratch!

INGREDIENTS

Italian Meatballs

• 1/2 small red onion, very finely chopped
• generous drizzle garlic olive oil (or substitute for ordinary olive oil + 2 finely chopped garlic cloves)
• 1 x 340g pkt Impossible Mince (or similar vegan + GF mince)
• 1 cup fresh GF breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp Italian mixed herbs
• 1 tbsp (small handful) fresh chopped parsley
• generous pinch fennel seeds
• pinch chilli flakes (optional)
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• generous pinch salt & pepper
• olive oil, to fry

Pesto

• (60ml) 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• a very large handful fresh basil leaves, torn
• a very large handful fresh parsley leaves, torn
• zest & juice of 1 lemon
• drizzle garlic olive oil (or substitute for 1 garlic clove)
• generous pinch salt & pepper
• 1 tbsp flaked or chopped almonds

To assemble: GF paninis, mayonnaise & non-dairy mozzarella (shreds or slices)

METHOD

1. To prepare your Italian Meatballs, sauté the onion & garlic olive oil in a small pan until the onion is soft & fragrant. Scrape into a bowl and add the remaining meatball ingredients. Using your hands (for easy work), scrunch the ingredients together until well combined. Roll the mixture into ping-pong sized meatballs, making approx. 12 in total. Refrigerate until ready to cook.
2. Make the Pesto by adding all the ingredients (bar the almonds) to a food processor or small blender and blitzing into a chunky/smooth consistency. Add the almonds and pulse a few times until finely chopped. Refrigerate until needed.
3. To create your paninis, first cook the Italian Meatballs (or as many as you plan to eat) in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil. For best results, turn the heat down after a couple of minutes to low-medium and gently brown on all sides. Slice those you are using in half.
4. Slice your panini bread in half, spread mayonnaise on each side followed by a generous amount of pesto. Add some mozzarella, followed by the halved meatballs, some more mozzarella and then the top bun.
5. Using a griddle-pan or sandwich press, grill on both sides (there's no need to brush the bread with oil) until deep scorch marks appear. If the non-dairy mozzarella hasn't sufficiently melted and you are using a griddle-pan, you can add a tbsp of water to the pan then cover with a heat proof cloche (eg. a stainless steel bowl or pot) for a minute, to steam & melt the cheese.

6. Serve immediately.