Roasted Red Pepper Panini w/Bacon, Brie, Caramelized Onions & Pesto

Tonight we made a new and different kind of panini. I was so hungry, I forgot to take a picture. This is from a friend of a friend's blog called Downright Delish. It's a decent sandwich, and I heard the leftovers are pretty good (I didn't get any leftovers!) The title says it all.

Of course our small grocery store didn't have Brie, so we used provolone. I used 1/2 pound of bacon for four sandwiches, but I wanted more bacon--next time I'll cook the whole pound! I also caramelized the onions with rosemary in the bacon grease--saved time and I didn't want another pan to clean! We used a sourdough loaf called a Jaco, which is kind of like a small French loaf size. (the store was also out of any other kind of sourdough--gotta love living in the middle of nowhere!)

Also, I don't put butter on the outside of the panini. I use olive oil, and I don't put it directly on our cast iron grill. I put the panini on a dry grill, drizzle the top with olive oil, then place the grill press on top. Flip, then drizzle olive oil on the top again.

My husband thought it tasted too "pizza-y" but my MIL loved it. I thought it was good, but I think it would be better with Brie. Boys weren't crazy about it (hence the leftovers!)

You can see the full recipe (and a picture!) here.