Yup, I grilled pancakes too! I feel a little mischievous in the kitchen when I get ready to make panini out of unlikely ingredients - “Ooooh…DARING!!” As I much as I love so-called “normal” panini, every once in a while I like to grill up something a little different. I’d had pretty good success in the past with grilling cookies, bagels, and croissants - so I went in with high hopes when I attempted pancakes. I was not disappointed!

Now, my mission was to see whether pancakes were viable vehicles for panini, not to test my prowess at actually making pancakes! So I cheated and went with the frozen kind. I must say, I was rather impressed with what the Krusteaz folks put out. Certainly no substitute for freshly-griddled, but still halfway decent cakes in about a minute in the microwave. Nice and fluffy, yet dense enough to stand up to the grill.

It’s still a touch early for peaches, even in Southern California, but they were on sale at Vons so I succumbed. I absolutely love peaches and craved them last year when I was pregnant with my daughter (I tell her that’s why she’s so sweet! Awww…). I used the old paper bag trick to try and ripen these a bit - I figured they’d soften up a bit on the grill and they did.

The idea to add rosemary and mascarpone cheese came from my favorite dessert at my favorite restaurant here in San Diego, Cafe Chloe. They do the most wonderful pear-rosemary galette with creme fraiche ice cream. That sweet-herby-tangy combo is absolutely irresistible and I wanted to try and replicate it on my pancake panini. I ended up sprinkling chopped fresh rosemary over the sliced peaches on the sandwich and I mixed in lemon zest and honey with the mascarpone. Lots of great, fresh flavor.

Lastly, I made a simple peach syrup from peach preserves, water and a little butter. That sticky goodness turned this sandwich into a knife-and-forker, but it’s a small price to pay. I can’t decide whether this one would be better served at brunch or dessert - I think I’ll go for both!

Peach-Rosemary Pancake Panini

Serves 3

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup peach preserves
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 peach, sliced thinly
6 buttermilk pancakes
1-1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tablespoon butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat panini grill to high heat (400 degrees).

In a small saucepan, bring preserves and water to a boil. Add butter and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and keep warm. The syrup will thicken.

In a small bowl, combine mascarpone, lemon zest and honey. Set aside.

For each sandwich: On one pancake, arrange peach slices, covering the pancake. Sprinkly about 1/2 teaspoon of rosemary on top of the peaches. On a second pancake, spread a generous layer of the mascarpone mixture. Place the second pancake on top of the first, mascarpone side down. Brush a little melted butter on top of the sandwich.

Grill 1-2 minutes just until sandwich is heated and grill marks appear. Remove from grill and drizzle with peach syrup. Garnish with extra rosemary if desired. Serve immediately and enjoy!

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