Corn and Cheese Paninis

I have a vague memory of my grandfather spooning creamed corn onto a slice of white bread in order to eat it. It was part of his mealtime ritual to mop up any remaining bits on his plate with bread. It wasn’t until I started looking for corn recipes that I learned other people like corn on toast, too. That’s why I decided to give these Corn and Cheese Paninis a try as part of this week’s Corn challenge at I Heart Cooking Clubs.

The recipe comes from Diana Henry and features freshly cut corn kernels. She cut her kernels off the cob and cooked them separately. I cut mine off of cobs that were already cooked and it worked fine. If corn isn’t in season you could also use canned or frozen kernels, just make sure they have been drained well. The kernels are cooked with butter, cream and hot peppers and then turned into a spread which is then put onto bread, topped with grated cheese and toasted.

Any bread that toasts well could be used to make the sandwiches. I chose an already sliced round loaf. A panini press was used to make two sandwiches at a time but there’s no reason you couldn’t use a skillet as you would for grilled cheese. Three ears of corn yielded enough kernels to make four sandwiches.

We enjoyed our corn and cheese paninis with some pickles and chips. The pickles help cut the richness of the filling which oozes between the slices of bread when hot. My son suggested adding sliced tomatoes and we all thought small cubes of ham would also be good. No matter what you choose to add to the filling, try to make sure it’s not super wet as it will affect the toasting process as will being overly generous with the butter spread on the outside.

Corn and Cheese Paninis

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Servings: 4

Author: LydiaF

Ingredients

• Kernels cut from 3 ears of cooked corn between 1 1/2 to 2 cups
• 1 - 2 tablespoons butter plus more for spreading on the bread
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions or 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup hot peppers deseeded if desired, and finely chopped (I used half a jalapeno and wished I'd used a whole one)
• 1 garlic clove finely grated (I used a microplane, you could also put it through a garlic press)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream or milk increase butter if using milk
• squeeze of lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 slices of bread
• 4 ounces grated cheddar cheese

Instructions

• Heat the kernels along with the butter, green onions, hot peppers, garlic and cream in a medium skillet until warmed through and the cream has reduced.
• Transfer to a food processor (or use a stick blender right in the pan) and pulse a couple times to turn the corn mixture into a coarse paste. You should be able to see whole kernels of corn.
• Season to taste with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice
• Butter all of the bread slices on one side.
• Arrange four slices, unbuttered side up, and divide the corn mixture between them. Spread to the sides. Top with the cheese and cover with the remaining slices of bread.
• Grill on a panini press until golden brown.

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This week, the cooks at I Heart Cooking Clubs will be sharing their favorite corn recipes from our past and present featured chefs. Drop by for some inspiration!