
Ham, Peach, Mascarpone & Almond Panini Recipe
It’s been a summer of picnics and I love it! It’s nostalgic and something I did as a kid, but the older I get, the less often I do them. Actually, I haven’t done them in at least 15 years so I’m making up for lost time.
This summer has been pretty crazy and I’ve been out of town a fair bit (check out my Instagram #FMFinLondon #FMFinNY #FMFinHK #FMFinMacau #FMFinSaigon #FMFinHanoi #FMFinSingapore #FMFinPenang #FMFinTO). I was going to be away for one of my best friend’s birthdays, so I decided to surprise her with an early birthday picnic on Canada Day. Double the celebration!
The spread included mixed berry parfaits with peanut butter and quinoa granola, and the choice of drink was Pure Leaf. raspberry tea – a bold tart berry flavor meets the character of black tea leaves. The main dish was a panini. To be honest, I didn’t find it particularly “special” (although tasty), but when I posted a photo of them on Instagram, I had people e-mailing for the recipe. It was a well received post and I’m happy to share the recipe – which is dead easy.
It’s not hard assembling a sandwich, so there isn’t much of a “recipe”. I just put together ingredients and flavours I enjoy and made sure there was some contrasting textures. I’m also a fan of sweet and savoury together, so this was right up my alley. It was sweet from honey and peaches, savoury from prosciutto (although I tried it with bacon and ham before and both work just as well), creamy and rich from the mascarpone, crispy from the toasted bread, crunchy from the almonds, and fragrant from the thyme leaves. It also went well with the raspberry iced tea which wasn’t too sweet and a bit tart, which gave the panini some acidity (also raspberry and peach? Not a bad combo).
Ham, Peach, Mascarpone & Almond Panini Recipe
Servings: 1 panini
- 1 baguette or ciabatta, sliced in half
- 6 slices of ham (preferably local from Oyama Sausage)
- 1 ripe peach
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped toasted almonds
- 1 tbsp honey
- Mascarpone
Notes for success
- Use as much ham as you use peaches to balance the sweet and savoury, however if the ham is extra salty, then use a couple slices less.
Method
- Preheat the panini maker, or use an oven. A skillet or frying pan as a panini press will work too, and you can squish the sandwich down with a heavy cast iron pan.
- Slice the ripe peach with the skin on. Grill the peaches.
- Spread a generous amount of mascarpone on each side of the bread.
- Drizzle one side with honey.
- Sprinkle one of the sides with thyme leaves.
- Lay slices of ham on the bread.
- Lay peaches on top of ham.
- Sprinkle chopped almonds on top of peaches.
- Close the sandwich and grill until bread is toasted and crispy and sandwich is warm/hot. Serve immediately.