Panini by Melanie Barnard

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With its tight shots of perfectly grill-marked paninis, cheese oozing from the edge, Melanie Barnard’s new cookbook Panini will have your mouth watering. I am anxious to try the Three-Cheese and Tomato Melt, made with Boursin, mozzarella and provolone, as well as the breadless Stuffed Portobello Mushroom panini and the Chicken & Mango with Cilantro Pesto. There is a chapter full of recipes for sweet panini — things like grilled pineapples on coconut pound cake and chocolate and hazelnut bananas on sweet challah bread. And Barnard touches on equipment saying that if you plan to grill a lot of panini, then a sandwich grill is a good idea but that a grill pan will work too, as long as you press down firmly with a metal spatula while cooking. -alyce eyster