Dee Dee Loves Recipes: Panera's Frontega Chicken Panini

I don't remember the first time I ate at Panera but I can never forget the Frontega Chicken Panini sandwich they sell. This was the first thing I tried and the only thing I order because it is so delicious!!! It is kind of pricey so I've always wanted to figure out how to make it. This is my 1st attempt and if I do say so, it turned out awesome!!! The only thing I will try different is a less "bready" bread (umm does that even make sense? lol well it did in my head) I don't own a panini maker but I am tempted to get one.

Ok let's get started...I will walk you through this step by step. Sorry if that's annoying :)

Here is what you will need...

skinless boneless chicken breast

mayo

chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

rosemary

basil

tomato

red onion

mozzarella cheese

bread (I used artisan ciabatta)

First we can prepare the spread.

In a small bowl I put 2 dolllops of mayo

Dice some of your basil and add to mayo

Chop some of the fresh rosemary and add to the spread.

Then add about 2 tsp. of adobo sauce from the chipotle peppers.

Add a pinch or so of salt and mix together. Place in the fridge until needed

We will start cooking the chicken.

In a skillet pour about 1-2 tbs of olive oil and heat on medium high.

While our skillet gets nice and hot we will use a meat tenderizer (I think that is what this hammer thingy is called :) ) to get a thinner piece of chicken breast to pan sear. When ever I cook my chicken breast in a pan without cutting it up, I prefer to flatten it so that it cooks more evenly. When I don't it tends to burn on the outside and remains pink in the middle.

Flattened

Our pan should be nice and hot by now so we can place our chicken breast in it.

While it is cooking let's season it with some salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 min on one side until golden brown.

Flip and cook for another 5 min. Sprinkle salt and pepper on this side as well.

Now we will put the chicken on a sheet of aluminum foil to finish the cooking process.

Fold one side of the foil as seen in this picture.

Fold the sides and then the top to create a steaming purse (?) Yeah that's what I'm going to call it :).

Let it sit and continue to cook in the foil purse for about 20 more minutes.

While we wait we can cut our red onion into thin slices.

Then slice our tomatoe.

Since I don't have a panini maker I am going to toast my bread in the toaster oven.

After the chicken has sat in the foil purse we can pull it apart. This way of cooking it makes it sooo moist and juicy!!! Now we can assemble the sanwich...