I’m only one post into Cookie Week but let’s take a quick break to talk about this sandwich, which was inspired by the flavors of French onion soup. Yup, that’s right: rare roast beef, soft, caramelized onions, and gooey gruyere cheese all tucked between two pieces of crisp bread. I could eat the panini every day of the week and be a happy camper; Shawn said it’s “even better than a burger.” Served on the side of some potato-leek soup, it was just about perfect.
When trying to come up with some unique ways to use Pillsbury Refrigerated Pizza Dough, I came up with the idea of using it as bread for sandwiches. There are only two of us in the house and we’re generally not big sandwich eaters, so I rarely by bread – we just don’t eat it fast enough and I don’t like the way it tastes after its been refrigerated or frozen. It turns out that pizza dough – especially the artisan variety made with whole grains – was the perfect solution to my bread problem. It keeps in the refrigerator for a long time and bakes up quickly wen you need it, and one tube makes the perfect amount (and we each get a leftover sandwich for lunch the next day!)
I discovered that Pillsbury already has a few recipes on their site that uses the dough this way, so the idea wasn’t as creative as I thought it was, but it’s still a great tip and a method that I’ll be using again!
Roast Beef, Caramelized Onion + Gruyere Panini
Ingredients
- 1 can 13.8 ounces Pillsbury Refrigerated Artisan Pizza Crust with Whole Grain
- 1 teaspoon Butter
- 1 Sweet Onion such as Vidalia, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons Mustard
- 1 pound cooked Roast Beef from deli, thinly sliced
- 1 cup Arugula
- ⅓ pound Gruyere Cheese
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375. Spray large cookie sheet with cooking spray. Unroll dough onto sheet and press into 16x11 inch rectangle. Bake 9 to 16 minutes, or until slightly puffed and cooked through; remove from oven. Use sharp knife to cut crust in half lengthwise and crosswise to make 4 rectangles. Cut each rectangle in half crosswise for a total of 8 squares.
- Meanwhile, heat 12-inch skillet oven medium heat until hot. Melt butter in skillet. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, 15 to 20 minutes or until soft and golden brown. Spread 4 crust squares with mustard; top with roast beef, caramelized onions, arugula, and gruyere. Top with a second crust square.
- Place 2 sandwiches in skillet. Place smaller skillet or saucepan on sandwiches to flatten slightly; keep skillet on sandwiches while cooking. Cook 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until bread is crisp and fillings are heated. Repeat with remaining sandwiches.
This post was sponsored by Pillsbury and I was compensated by General Mills/Pillsbury for my time creating this recipe. All opinions are my own.
I made these last night and they were phenomenal! Hubs loved them.
Wow, I think you have been quite inventive. (Who cares if someone else was also, independently, inventive?) It’s a clever idea, indeed. I like the flavour combination of roast beef and gruyere – yum.