This Shiitake Panini with Roasted Asparagus Pesto recipe is the perfect way to welcome spring. If you love roasted asparagus, you will love this sandwich!
Steamed Asparagus
When I make asparagus, nine times out of ten, I roast it. Steamed asparagus is good and sautéed asparagus is better, but neither compare to roasted asparagus. Just like with cauliflower, roasting mellows the flavor of asparagus. It gets caramelized and tender and just perfect in every way. As soon as I saw spring asparagus at the grocery store, I knew I had to buy it, but other than roasting it, I wasn't sure what to do with it.
I played around with different ideas and settled on a sandwich. Roasted asparagus sandwich! You never see asparagus on a sandwich, right?! But then the more I thought about it, I realized there's probably a reason for that—asparagus would be a little bit unwieldy on a sandwich. So I decided to make an asparagus pesto to spread onto the sandwich and I topped that with roasted shiitake mushrooms and Fontina cheese.
About the Recipe
Believe it or not, I grilled this on my Griddler, but I can never get nice grill marks on my panini, no matter how long I let it sit on there. Well, the inside still got nice and melty, which is more important than the aesthetics, I think.
Served with a light spring salad, this Shiitake Panini with Roasted Asparagus Pesto is a great way to say hello to asparagus season. Hello, asparagus season! I will enjoy the heck out of you!
Recipe
Ingredients
- olive oil mister or cooking spray
- 1 bunch asparagus ends trimmed and cut into 1 ½-inch pieces
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and sliced
- 6 oz shiitake mushrooms stems removed and caps cut into thick strips
- ¼ cup almonds toasted
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt + pepper to taste
- 1 loaf ciabatta bread cut into four equal pieces and halved lengthwise
- 1 cup Fontina cheese shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil mister.
- Place shiitake mushrooms on one side of baking sheet and place asparagus and garlic cloves on other side. Spray tops with additional olive oil. Bake for 10–12 minutes or until vegetables are softened and just beginning to brown. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
- Transfer asparagus and garlic to food processor. Add almonds and olive oil. Pulse until finely chopped but not mashed; season with salt and pepper.
- Preheat electric grill or panini press on high. Spread asparagus pesto on each half of ciabatta bread. Top four bottom pieces of bread with a quarter of the mushrooms and ¼ cup of cheese. Place other half of bread on top and press down.
- Transfer panini to grill and close lid. Grill for about 5 minutes or until cheese has melted.
Alaina @ Fabtastic Eats says
beautiful! And this sounds so wonderful!!
Cassie | Bake Your Day says
These photos are stunning! I would love one of these for breakfast! Asparagus pesto is a great idea!
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
When you said asparagus on a sandwich is unwieldy, I immediately thought of Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura wearing a few spears like a walrus and saying "do I have something in my teeth?"
Natalie says
Oh yum asparagus pesto sounds super good, got to try that out soon!
shelly (cookies and cups) says
Asparagus Pesto? You are killing me!
Lisa @ Greek Vegetarian says
I'm not a fan of shiitake mushrooms but these photos are some of the best I've seen on your blog – almost good enough for me to want to eat a shiitake mushroom!
Roasted asparagus pesto on the other hand? Now that looks like a concoction made in heaven 🙂
Kiersten says
Thank you! But how can you not like shiitake mushrooms?! 😉
Maryann says
I LOVE Shiitake mushrooms - they are my favorites.
Kare @ Kitchen Treaty says
I posted an asparagus recipe today too - woo hoooooo spring! Roasted asparagus pesto - you are the smartest. ever. EVER. And with almonds, too. Genius. And that photo of the asparagus bunch is unbelievably gorgeous, by the way. Frame-worthy.
Kiersten says
Thank you! Is it weird that asparagus is my favorite thing to photograph? I have about 50 photos from that shoot with asparagus in various poses. 🙂
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
Good heavens, that looks mighty yummy!
Alissa N says
This looks incredible, asparagus and grilled cheese are like my 2 favorite foods right now!! I am kind of considering picking up a panini press because of my new found affection for grilled cheese, do you have a fave brand? (Affiliate link welcome, I love to support my favorite blogs!)
Kiersten says
I don't have a panini press, but I do have a Cuisinart Griddler
(and since you asked, yup, that is an affiliate link!). Before that, I had a George Foreman grill and I wanted to love it (especially since it turned into a waffle maker!), but the non-stick finish chipped off after a year. We've had our Griddler for 2 years now, we use it once or twice a week, and it's holding up well. Like I mentioned in my post, I can never get those nice grill marks with it, but it cooks everything perfectly. It does pancakes WAY better than our stovetop!
Alissa N says
Yay! Thanks!! Just ordered it!! 🙂
Kiersten says
I hope you like it as much as I like mine! 😀
ea-the spicy rd says
Oh, my, yum!!! I am so with you about roasted asparagus being the best. I have always loved asparagus, even as a kid, but didn't discover roasting it until a couple of years ago. Seriously cant wait to make this!!!
Kiersten says
I loved asparagus as a kid too! We were weird kids, huh? 🙂
Holly says
Sounds good and looks even better! I like the idea of changing up pesto by using asparagus. Great idea!
Alexis @ Hummusapien says
Totally drooling over this. I knew I should have bought some of those bulk shitakes last time I was at Whole Foods! I've actually never cooked with fontina so I'm really excited to try this. Especially with that crusty ciabatta 🙂
Kiersten says
Fontina is my go-to cheese lately. It's a little more flavorful than mozzarella, but not so flavorful that it competes with other flavors in a recipe. If that makes sense. 🙂
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
I can't wait for the green asparagus season to arrive! The panini looks delectable.
JulieD says
Looks great!! The only way I can get great marks on paninis is when I use butter! 🙂
Kiersten says
Ah, I should try that next time. I used to use olive oil and that didn't do the trick, so I figured since I wasn't getting grill marks anyway, I'd just cut out the fat.
Katie (The Muffin Myth) says
Wow, you've got asparagus already?! I wish spring would hurry up and arrive here! The pesto is a genius idea, love it.
Kiersten says
We get everything early here! I am completely spoiled.
Maria Tadic says
This looks so yummy! I never thought to make pesto out of asparagus! Mmmm can't wait to try this! But gotta wait til I actually start seeing some asparagus at the farmers market... 🙁
Kiersten says
I will make pesto out of anything! Sometimes with success, other times not. But this one was a success. 🙂
a farmer in the dell says
this is my kind of sandwich. Love everything going on in between those slices of bread!
Dara says
What a fabulous sandwich! I am craing that asparagus pesto right now.
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
I love shiitake mushrooms, what an incredible panini!
Natalie @ Once Upon a Cutting Board says
I can't wait for asparagus season here! I love the sounds of an asparagus pesto, I don't think I've ever seen that before! And it would be much easier to eat than trying to bite apart stalks of asparagus in your sandwich, though even that would still taste good with the fontina and ciabatta - yum!
Kiersten says
Yeah, I was trying to think of a way to do asparagus on a sandwich that would be easy to bite into. First I thought whole stalks, then I thought I'd try cutting the stalks into small pieces, then I ended up doing pesto. 🙂
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
The combination of asparagus and mushrooms sounds fantastic, especially with pesto sauce! And all put together in a sandwich? It sounds like a winner :).
sarah @ two tarts says
I'm intrigued by the idea of asparagus pesto. Looks delicious!
Julia | JuliasAlbum.com says
I love how unique this sandwich is! Shiitake and asparagus pesto! Yum! I, too, prefer roasted asparagus over steamed or sauteed - I like to toss asparagus in some olive oil and soy sauce and then grill it.
Kiersten says
I just got a grill pan so I've been wanting to try making asparagus on that!
Marta @ What should I eat for breakfast today says
This is one great sandwich. I love asparaguses and in sandwich it will be perfect.