Pear Panini with Spicy Pear and Mango Chutney
  • Complexity: Medium
  • Srv: 7
  • Total Time: 30 min

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf of whole-grain artisan bread, sliced 1⁄2” thick
  • 1⁄2 C butter, softened
  • 5 oz. container crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
  • 16 oz. shredded Fontina cheese
  • 4 pears (Bosc, Anjou or Bartlett work well)
  • 1 mango, peeled and 1⁄4” dice
  • 1 shallot, finely diced
  • 3⁄4 C red pepper jelly
  • 1⁄4 tsp salt
  • 2 TBSP red wine vinegar
  • 1⁄4 C fresh mint, chiffonade

Directions

  1. Slice 2 pears into 1⁄4” thick slices, dice 2 pears into 1⁄4” cubes
  2. Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat and add 3 TBSP of butter. When the butter has melted, add the shallot and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the diced pears and mango and cook for 8 minutes, until the fruits are beginning to soften. Add the red pepper jelly, salt, and red vinegar and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the mint. Set aside to cool.
  3. Preheat a panini press to medium-high heat. Alternatively, you can heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Butter the slices of bread and arrange them butter side down on a flat surface. To assemble each panini, take one slice of butter side down bread, top with a generous sprinkling of fontina cheese, arrange pear slices over the fontina, sprinkle about 1 TBSP of gorgonzola over the pears and top with another sprinkling of fontina cheese. Place another buttered slice of bread atop the cheese. Cook the panini in the panini press or skillet until the cheese is melted and the bread has deep, golden brown grill marks. Serve hot paninis alongside the spicy pear and mango chutney for dipping.

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