Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Panini

Every Sunday my mom makes a big lunch and we head next door after Mass to enjoy it.  Cooking food for others is my mom's love language and eating food prepared by others is mine.  So it works out great!

The only problem is that I'm usually so full from lunch that I don't ever want to fix anything for dinner.  Which is fine with me, but not my little family.  So I'm always trying to figure out what to cook that is tasty, easy, and light.  (And by light, I mean, not much food, not light in calories.)

A couple of months ago I purchased a sandwich press thinking that we could just make paninis for Sunday supper.

I've made cubans (which Dan and I love) and lots of grilled cheese with bacon which has also been a big hit.

But I've been wanting to branch out.  So when I stumbled on a recipe for Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese, I knew I would have to give it a try!  

And that's exactly what I did this past Sunday.  I didn't have the apricot preserves so I subbed peach jam and I always use Ciabatta rolls that I get from Aldi's.  And oh my!  These were delicious.

After Dan finished his, I asked if he would eat this again and he shook his head yes as he was licking his lips.  (That was almost as good as two thumbs up from him.)

So, this is what we'll be having again this Sunday.  The kids will be sticking to their grilled cheese and bacon but that's okay with me.  More jalapenos and goat cheese for me!

Please check out the original recipe because she actually roasted her own peppers (and her picture is way prettier than mine).  There's no way I'm ever going to roast peppers  so here's my lazy Sunday evening version:

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Panini

Ingredients:
2 slices ciabatta bread
2 ounces goat cheese, softened
2 slices bacon, cooked
1 - 2 tablespoons jalapenos, pickles and chopped
1 tablespoon peach preserves (or apricot or any mildly sweet preserves)
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions:
Spread one slice of bread with goat cheese.  Top with jalapenos and then bacon.
Spread the other piece of bread with preserves and place on top of the other piece.
Spread tops of bread with melted butter.
Place into sandwich press and cook.

Enjoy!