Panini With Artichoke Hearts, Spinach and Red Peppers Recipe (2024)

Dear Martha Rose: What's the advantage of blanching the spinach and then chopping it, over chopping it and sautéing for a minute in the same pan as the garlic and arties?

I think it's because spinach releases a lot of water when cooked, and could make the artichoke mixture too wet, thus creating a very soggy panini. Blanching, draining and squeezing the water out will solve that problem.

I use a ribbed cast iron pan and weight it down with a wrapped brick.

Italian change-up: arugula, marinated artichoke hearts, slice of provolone; nix the garlic; may add a slice of prosciutto or hot cappicola; crusty Italian bread. Grill on panini grill. (I use up the roast peppers I have in a jar in the fridge.)

I sautéed the spinach in the garlic and it turned out delicious and not too moist. Also substituted goat cheese and used ciabatta for the bread. Amazing recipe.

I'm addicted to this panini and have made it a number of times. My recommendations: 1) no need to do anything with the spinach -- the heat from cooking wilts the spinach with no excess moisture, plus Nancy said it best . . it's slightly crunchy and fresh tasting; 2) I use a Lodge ribbed grill pan and weight down panini with a smaller 6" cast iron pan; 3) I add thin strips of grilled zucchini; 4) only slight difference in texture between fresh cooked artichoke hearts and frozen.

Why blanche the spinach? They are perfect raw. Fresh and crunchy

This is been added to my regular rotation. Instead of putting the ingredients on bread to make a panini, I've been tossing them with noodles to make an excellent pasta dish. Substitute nutritional yeast for the cheese.

Recipe sounds wonderful, the only addition I'd make is goat cheese as a spread.

Absolutely will make again, esp. as calls only for pantry staples exepting fresh thyme*Used canned, marinated artichoke hearts.*Sauteed spinach with four fat cloves of thinly sliced garlic, added the artichoke hearts (which I had drained on paper towel) and heated through. *Don't have a panini press so I simply toasted the sandwich in a cast iron skillet like a grilled cheese. This was fine; pressed would be ideal/neater but they were still delicious.*Liked with and without goat cheese

Thanks for the suggestions. I sautéed the spinach with the artichoke hearts. Saved a step and worked really well.

Wowza this is easy and delicious! Took some steps to make this easier, Trader Joe’s roasted artichokes, and jarred roasted bell peppers. Also swapped the bread for Sourdough.

These were delicious. Will definitely make again. Only modification is that I quickly cooked the spinach in a nonstick pan - no blanching needed and the skillet helped take much of the liquid out, so not much squeezing required. Made spinach ahead and had it ready when assembling the sandwiches.

Microwaved the spinach in the bag and squeezed it out in a towel, and it worked great! Way easier than blanching. Delicious!

Good written, made me want to tinker. I don’t blanch the spinach anymore. It is good either sautéed or piled raw into the sandwich and wilted in the panini grill. I prefer the bite of mixed baby greens over straight spinach. I like the the artichoke best when drizzled with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and broiled until a little charred. I’ll char them on the grill in the summer. And, I like to add just a little Brie for some extra goo.

Glad to have recently rediscovered this recipe. It’s a great template and works well with what’s on hand — usually frozen spinach speed-thawed in microwave, jarred artichokes, maybe some pepper rings, and any tangy, robust cheese. Since I don’t have a panini press, I grill it with some weight to top. Yum!

One sandwich is singular, panino. Two or more sandwiches are panini.

This was fussy and bland. Won’t make again.

This was a good recipe. Made w/o a panini grill like grilled cheese. I think next time a bit of reduced balsamic vin. would do the trick, drizzled after cookig, to cut through a slight oil amount and give extra fullness, along with some chili peppers.

Good easy no need to blanch spinach, just put it in a pan with a bit of water Used sourdough bread

I made this last night with the ingredients I had on hand, which meant using marinated artichokes which I rinsed in hot water for approximately 5 minutes, strained and pressed dry earlier in the day, and mixed salad greens for the spinach. I cut a clove of garlic in half and rubbed the two slices of bread, used cheddar, and popped the sandwich in the panini press. It was a filling dinner — I couldn’t finish the other half and I liked the faint marinade taste remaining in the artichokes.

I tried it the first time as written, but found that blanching the spinach was too time-consuming and yielded soggy results. Second time, I wilted the spinach on a plate in the microwave for about 1 minute on high and let it stand 1 minute before chopping and tossing it in the garlic-artichoke oil. I also used a slice of cheese on each slice of bread to prevent it from getting soggy. These two tweaks yielded perfect results. Will definitely be making this regularly.

After reading the comments, I decided to forgo all of the spinach blanching and cooking and just added the raw spinach to the sandwich. It turned out great! I roasted my own red pepper vs buying own and bought marinated artichoke hearts, so all I had to do was assemble the sandwich. I made homemade sourdough sandwich bread and skipped the cheese. I also added homemade pesto to mine and lemon hummus to my boyfriend’s because he doesn’t eat cheese (so no pesto for him). Delicious!

I just wilted the spinach in the same pan that I used for the artichoke hearts. I just pushed them to the side. No problem with moisture in the spinach. Boiling and chopping seem totally unnecessary. Great sandwich that I served for dinner with a salad. A nice quick dinner.

Loved the tangy artichokes with garlicy sauteed spinach. Substitute feta and mozzarella cheeses. Easy to make. Great for a weekday dinner.

I left out the artichokes, although I know they must be great. I used ajvar (red pepper spread) instead of marinated red peppers. Liked it a lot.

I cooked everything all together - hearts, spinach, red peppers. I added them in stages but ended up w one big pan of ingredients to add with cheese layer on top. I would use ample flavoring - more thyme, garlic and salt. Delish. Good way to get veggies into another meal.

Absolutely will make again, esp. as calls only for pantry staples exepting fresh thyme*Used canned, marinated artichoke hearts.*Sauteed spinach with four fat cloves of thinly sliced garlic, added the artichoke hearts (which I had drained on paper towel) and heated through. *Don't have a panini press so I simply toasted the sandwich in a cast iron skillet like a grilled cheese. This was fine; pressed would be ideal/neater but they were still delicious.*Liked with and without goat cheese

Good written, made me want to tinker. I don’t blanch the spinach anymore. It is good either sautéed or piled raw into the sandwich and wilted in the panini grill. I prefer the bite of mixed baby greens over straight spinach. I like the the artichoke best when drizzled with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and broiled until a little charred. I’ll char them on the grill in the summer. And, I like to add just a little Brie for some extra goo.

Wowza this is easy and delicious! Took some steps to make this easier, Trader Joe’s roasted artichokes, and jarred roasted bell peppers. Also swapped the bread for Sourdough.