Although I don't eat a lot of bread, I find that having "sandwich night," every once in a while helps alleviate my cravings. When I was a kid, my nickname was "cracker," because all I ate was crackers and bread! Of course, my mother attempted to get me to eat anything but bread, a battle she apparently lost. For that reason, the Artichoke Pesto Vegetable Panini recipe satisfies my vice and is delicious. It even has vegan pesto!
Despite my many vices, I created a 25 minutes and done sandwich. Using my Cuisinart Panini Maker makes the process easy, but you can make the sandwich in a pan just as easily. Additionally, you do not need any butter, oil, or spray for a pan or the panini maker; the bread will toast without it.
First, choose the vegetables you want to enhance the pesto in your sandwich. For this vegetable panini, I chose tomato, red onion, spinach, and avocado. But, feel free to switch it up, depending on your preferences. Arugula is always great on a vegan pesto sandwich, because of its peppery taste.
Despite my love for Artichoke Pesto, I have provided 2 pesto recipes without nuts below from my Skinny Basil White Bean and Chickpea Dip and Sandwich Spread and Skinny Roasted Vegetable Pesto Pasta Salad. Hopefully, this will meet the needs of all dietary restrictions. Also, feel free to use gluten-free bread. It will work just as well.
When you are looking for a quick and easy dinner, in 20 minutes or less, try an Artichoke Vegan Pesto Vegetable Panini. You won't be disappointed.
Artichoke Pesto Vegetable Panini
Ingredients
SANDWICH
- 4 slices while grain vegan bread of choice
- 1 large hot house tomato sliced thin
- 1 small red onion sliced thin
- 1 avocado sliced thin
- 2 cups organic spinach
ARTICHOKE PESTO
- ¼ cup shelled pistachios
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup basil
- 1 cup artichokes I used a can marinated in water; drain
- 1 lemon or ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup water
- Salt and pepper to taste
NUT-FREE PESTO OPTION
- 1 ½ cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 15 ounces navy/cannellini beans 1.5 cups; rinsed and drained
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- the juice of 2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
NUT-FREE PESTO OPTION 2:
- 1 cup fresh basil
- 7 ounces chickpeas ½ a can
- 7 ounces Cannelloni Beans or Navy beans ½ a can
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 teaspoons fresh ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
OPTIONAL
- Use extra artichokes from the can for the sandwich but make sure you dry them on paper towels first
- Add crushed red pepper for a little spice
Instructions
PESTO
- Choose your pesto option
- Add all ingredients to a high speed blender until smooth
- Set aside
MAKING THE SANDWICH
- Pre-heat the panini maker to 350 degrees
- Lay four slices on bread on a flat surface
- Using a knife, cover each slice of bread with thin layer of pesto
- Then on two slices of bread, start to layer the vegetables: spinach, onion, tomato, and avocado (add artichokes if you wish)
- Top with the other two slices of bread.
- Place both sandwiches on the panini maker
- Close the panini maker
- Cook for 10 minutes
Notes
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
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