Turkey, Brie and Cranberry Mustard Panini

After Thanksgiving comes Thanksgiving sandwiches, which is possibly the best part of Thanksgiving. Or even better, Thanksgiving turkey paninis! All the work is done. Everything is clean and put away. And there are all those leftovers to eat. That’s the time to pull out a few slices of turkey, grab some leftover cheese, and make a simple cranberry mustard to put it over the top. A quick flip in your grill pan, then relax and eat and think about that slice of pie you are going to have next.

Since I had Thanksgiving on my mind, I had Thanksgiving flavors on my mind.

First of all – turkey. That’s a given!

Second – cranberry sauce. That’s as much of a fixture on the Thanksgiving table as turkey. Since I wanted to turn it into a condiment and add some spice, mixing the cranberry sauce with mustard seemed a great idea. Once I had the sauce in front of me, it was a matter of a little experimentation to get the balance right.

Third – cheese, and by cheese I mean brie. We always have brie at Thanksgiving! None is ever left once everyone has had their chance, but to me brie and Thanksgiving goes together.

And fourth – sage. I love sage and sage is best friends with roast turkey. In fact, I love sage so much I enjoy it sliced up straight from the garden. (It was news to me recently that some consider raw sage not so tasty!) If you are someone who loves sage, but prefers it cooked, give it a saute before you add it to the panini. Or heat up some oil and make fried sage! Yum.

Of course Thanksgiving hasn’t happened yet, so we had to go through the pain and suffering of making a little pre-Thanksgiving turkey dinner since I needed leftovers! The things I do for my art. 🙂 I kept it simple since there are only the three of us – a turkey breast, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and some winter squash; and everyone was under strict orders that I have enough cranberry sauce leftover to make these paninis. It was a near thing but we did it and I could make actual leftover turkey paninis.

Add in some multigrain bread I had in the cupboard, a few sage leaves from my potted sage plant, and a wedge of brie and we had some paninis. Really, really good paninis. Paninis that have been reported to me from a member of the household to be the best panini she has ever had. I won’t tell you who said this since I promised I wouldn’t, but, take from me (and her) these were yummy. Yummy and less that 15 minutes to make once you have those leftovers to use. Now that’s what I call perfect for those post-Thanksgiving munchies.

– Happy Eating, Annemarie

Print Recipe

Turkey, Brie and Cranberry Mustard Panini

Once Thanksgiving is over, the question is what to do with all the leftovers. This turkey, brie, and cranberry panini provides the delicious answer.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time8 minutes mins

Total Time13 minutes mins

Course: Main

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 250kcal

Author: Just a Little Bit of Bacon

Ingredients

Cranberry Mustard

• 1 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 4 tsp coarse ground mustard
• dash kosher salt

Turkey Paninis

• 8 slices bread, a hearty whole-grain bread is nice if you have it
• 8 oz turkey breast
• 4 oz brie, sliced into four pieces
• 6 leaves fresh sage, sliced
• olive oil

Instructions

• To make the cranberry mustard, add all ingredients to a bowl and mix well. Taste and add more mustard or salt if needed.
• For the sandwiches: Heat up a grill pan, or panini pan, over medium heat.
• Lay out 4 slices of bread. Layer one piece of brie onto each slice and then divide up the turkey over the brie. Top each with another piece of bread and then brush or spray some olive oil over the bread, top and bottom.
• Cooking two sandwiches at a time, toast each side until the bread is golden and the cheese is melty, weighing down the sandwiches as they cook, about 2 minutes per side.
• Once the paninis are all toasted, pry up the top piece of bread and spoon a couple of tablespoons of cranberry mustard over the top and scatter around some sliced sage. Cut each panini in half and serve.

Notes

If you don't have any leftover brie, cheddar would also make a great combination with the other flavors.

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