ITALIAN TUNA MELT PANINI

I posted a recipe for a Tuna Melt in Izetta's Southern Cooking blog, so I decided to make an Italian Tuna Melt. If you use Kalamata olives and Greek kasseri cheese, it would be a Greek tuna melt. Serve this with a bowl of soup and you have a delicious meal. Did you know that one Italian sandwich is a Panino and two or more are Panini?

2 Italian rolls or Italian bread cut into 6 to 8 inches in length.

Lemon Aioli

½ cup mayonnaise

Zest and juice of a ½ medium lemon 

1 t Dijon mustard

1 small clove garlic, pushed through a garlic press

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, lemon zest, juice, mustard, and garlic.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to prepare sandwiches.

Black Olive Tapenade

1 cup black Italian Gaeta olives, pitted and chopped

¼ cup  chopped Italian parsley

¼ cup chopped red onion

3 anchovies, smashed (optional)

Zest and juice of a ½ medium lemon

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Mix all together in a medium bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to prepare sandwiches.

Tuna Salad

1 5-oz can solid white tuna, in oil or water, drained

¼ cup diced roasted red bell peppers 

¼ cup drained capers

2 T chopped Italian parsley

Juice of ½ medium lemon

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 T extra-virgin olive oil

Mix all together in a medium bowl and set aside.

4 slices Provolone cheese

Arugula

Shaved or thinly sliced fennel

Cut bread in half, lengthwise and spread top and bottom of each sandwich with Lemon Aioli.

Add some Tuna Salad to the bottom half.

Layer on 2 slices of Provolone cheese and place under the broiler for about 1 minute, to just melt the cheese but do not brown.

Spread some Black Olive Tapenade on top.

Add a little arugula and shaved fennel on top of tapenade and top with the other slice of bread.

Cut in half and serve.

Serves 2 to 4