Emmental, Honey & Ham Panini Recipe

Emmental, Honey & Ham Panini

I may have a new favorite sandwich.  Now, I have enjoyed all of the panini on my blog or I wouldn’t have written them up (trust me, there a number that will never be repeated!), but today’s Emmental, Honey & Ham Panini was especially tasty.  Can’t-put-it-down good.  And it all hinged on the terrific flavor and texture of the Emmental cheese.  I’m definitely glad I decided to expand my cheese repertoire and launch my “Cheese, Please!” series.  If you missed it, you can read my post about the wonderful Emmental here.

Click here to read my post about Emmental cheeseWe hadn’t planned on involving honey in our little cheese tasting on Sunday.  My sister was a willing participant as I trotted out the cheeses I had just purchased at Bristol Farms, along with an array of condiments: fig jam, quince paste, sun-dried tomatoes.  We sampled the Emmental with each accompaniment, but we didn’t feel that any of them really stood up to the sharpness of the 14-month aged Premier Cru.

Emmental, Honey & Ham Panini in the making“How about honey?” my sister suggested.  It turns out she’s been making my Grilled Cheese & Honey Panini, with Raclette cheese, like a little fiend over at her apartment and can’t get enough of that sweet and savory combo.  That was the one!  The extra-sweetness of the honey was just the thing to mellow out the sharp Emmental.  The fig jam was close, but the honey was even better.

Emmental, Honey & Ham Panini on the panini grillHoney and Emmental on a slice of baguette made a great little appetizer, but for a full panini I thought I’d need one more ingredient to give it some substance.  We first thought of prosciutto, but decided it would be too salty.  But Black Forest ham, with its mild saltiness, provided just the right flavor balance.

Finally, I’ll mention that the seeded French baguette also proved to be the right choice for this sandwich.  In grilling, the baguette became very crisp on the outside while remaining gratifyingly soft on the inside.  The poppy and sesame seeds along the crust added a nice nutty finish.

Emmental, Honey & Ham Panini

Emmental, Honey & Ham Panini

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

1 seeded French baguette, cut into 5″ segments
Honey
12 slices Black Forest ham
Emmental cheese, sliced thinly

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat panini grill to medium-high heat (375 degrees).

Split each baguette segment in half lengthwise, forming top and bottom halves.

For each sandwich: Drizzle honey inside each baguette half.  On the bottom half, layer 3 slices of ham and several slices of cheese.  Place the top baguette half on top and press down gently to form the sandwich.

Grill each sandwich for 9-10 minutes (you may be able to fit them all on the grill at the same time, depending on the size of your grill) until the cheese has melted.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

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KathyPanini Happy, online since 2008, is more than just a sandwich blog. Here, you'll find hundreds of my original panini recipes, my guide to choosing a panini press and a whole lot of other creative uses for the panini press.
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17 Comments

  1. Erin wrote:

    And there it is…Yum Yum! Boy do I wish that was what I had for lunch today instead of boring leftovers.

    Posted 6.24.08 Reply
  2. Chuck wrote:

    That looks so good! I’m ready for lunch now.

    Posted 6.24.08 Reply
  3. rachel wrote:

    This looks great! I love the honey-ham-cheese combo idea.

    Posted 6.24.08 Reply
  4. Rosa wrote:

    Now, that’s what I call a scrumptious Panini! Really beautiful!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Posted 6.24.08 Reply
  5. Nate wrote:

    That looks perfect!

    Posted 6.25.08 Reply
  6. PaniniKathy wrote:

    Erin & Chuck – I had it for lunch again today – I highly recommend!

    Rachel – Thanks! Yeah, the three actually worked really well together.

    Rosa & Nate – Thanks! And welcome to the blog! 🙂

    Posted 6.25.08 Reply
  7. Elle wrote:

    Whenever i look at your photos, no matter what time of day it is, I get hungry! This looks incredible!

    Posted 6.25.08 Reply
  8. noble pig wrote:

    Oh how I miss Bristol Farms….but that sandwich looks amazing with the melted cheese. Love it.

    Posted 6.25.08 Reply
  9. Kevin wrote:

    That sounds good. I like the use of honey in it.

    Posted 6.26.08 Reply
  10. PaniniKathy wrote:

    Elle – You made my day! Always working on improving my photography…glad your tummy likes them 🙂

    Cathy – I was so glad when BF opened near me last year – so fun to go and graze on all their samples!

    Kevin – Thanks! The honey really dials up the flavor of the sandwich.

    Posted 6.26.08 Reply
  11. Paula wrote:

    That sandwich looks great! I like the idea of adding honey along with the ham and cheese. Lovely bread, too!

    Posted 6.27.08 Reply
  12. My mouth is watering. I think I know what I’m having for lunch!

    Posted 7.3.08 Reply
  13. peabody wrote:

    So simple yet so tasty. This is going on my list of things to make for lunch this week!

    Posted 7.11.08 Reply
  14. Natasha wrote:

    Mmmm… What’s not to love about this?? I must admit I’ve never tried honey on a savory sandwich before, but will do asap!

    Posted 7.14.08 Reply
  15. One of the most gorgeous paninis I have ever seen! It looks so tasty and juicy! I want mine with lots of cheese please

    Posted 3.28.10 Reply
  16. Amethyst wrote:

    We bought some Emmental for my husband’s birthday because he loves good cheese and we can rarely afford to buy it. We had never tried Emmental before and found it to not be a very good cheese for eating on its own. I’m so glad I stumbled across this website and found this recipe, because it was perfect and way simpler than most other recipes involving Emmental. Thank you!

    Posted 7.31.10 Reply