Paninotecas are little sandwich shops scattered all around Italy. They specialize in all sorts of panini; hundreds of varieties to be exact. Two or three ingredients are used to make up each panino. The most common ones are tomatoes, mozzarella, arugula, prosciutto, bresaola, and parmesan shavings.

Each shop has its own selection of breads to choose from: Focaccia, ciabatta, panino arabo which is a crustless bread dusted with white flour, etc…  There are between five and ten different ingredients to choose from as well. The panini can stand alone or be served “da riscaldare”, meaning heated between two metal plates. That way the grill marks don’t show on the surface of the bread.

The piadina is made with a flatbread similar to a tortilla that originated in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. It is always heated because nobody wants to eat a cold tortilla sandwich.

I hardly think you will find my version of this Italian Classic anywhere in Italy. Of course it is an appetizer and not a functional lunch entrée and is meant to be a summer cooler on a hot day.

Italian Watermelon Panini

Ingredients:
5 vine ripened organic tomatoes
1 small seedless watermelon
1 cup julienne basil
1 cup Kelly’s sun dried tomatoes
6 tbsp. filtered water
3 tbsp. olive oil

Directions:
Put Kelly’s sun dried tomatoes into 6 tbsp. of water and let soak for 20 minutes until softened. Then add olive oil and place into a high speed blender.
Pulse until the texture is creamy but still has tomato chunks in the marinara sauce. Set aside. Place the basil leaves in stacks of 6. Roll each stack up length wise and slice thinly from end to end until all the basil is julienned. Set aside. Slice the watermelon into ½” slices. Take a round cutter which is the same diameter as the tomato and cut 1 slice out of the center of each watermelon slice. Repeat once for each tomato so that you end up with 5 altogether.  Cut each tomato in half horizontally. Leave the vine intact on the top of each tomato. Take the bottom of the tomato and spread the marinara sauce evenly over the bottom. Repeat the process for all of the tomatoes. Then place a thin layer of julienned basil on top of the marinara sauce. Make sure that the basil is evenly distributed and neat. Place a slice watermelon on each tomato over the basil. Evenly spread the marinara sauce over each watermelon slice and top with another layer of neat julienne basil. Place the top of the tomato over the basil. Repeat until all of the tomatoes are assembled. “Refer to photo for assembly.”

Makes 5 tomato coolers

Best if consumed immediately. Will store for 2 days in an air tight container in the refrigerator.