Photo Credit: Hannah Lineberry Bentz

My daughter, Hannah, learned how to make this sandwich during her college days when she worked at a small cafe in Sand City, California—population 328, as of 2022, and nestled somewhere between Monterey and Seaside. It’s a cute, artsy little place. The cafe is no longer in existence, but the Sandwich City Apple Brie Panini lives on.

The recipe for caramelized onions is below and my recipe for focaccia is here.

Hannah’s recipe makes a large batch, so unless you are feeding a crowd, use it as a guide. The sandwich has raw apples, brie, caramelized onions and focaccia. Go for it!

Apple Brie Panini

INGREDIENTS

• 1 baked focaccia loaf—buy one or use my recipe here
• 16 ounces brie, rind removed and sliced thin
• 4 large green apples, thinly sliced
• Caramelized onions, to taste—a quick recipe follows

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut the focaccia in half horizontally. 
2. Put caramelized onions on both sides of the sliced focaccia.
3. On bottom half of the focaccia arrange a few slices of the brie. 
4. Top with some very thin slices of green apple. Nestle the apple slices into the brie as best you can. 
5. Put both sides of the focaccia together to assemble the sandwich.
6. If you don’t have a panini press, heat a skillet over medium-high heat.  Spray skillet with cooking spray or add a bit of oil or butter. 
7. When hot, place sandwiches into skillet. Cook until the focaccia starts to brown and crisp, and the brie is starts to melt, occasionally pressing down on the sandwich with a metal spatula. 
8. Cook on both sides so the apple gets partially cooked, the onions are warmed through, and the brie is all melty.
9. Remove your Apple Brie Panini from the skillet and set aside to cool for a minutes or two so you don’t burn yourself with the hot brie! 
10. If you do have a panini press, get it out and use it according to the manufacturers instructions!

This is a good ‘Welcome to Fall’ sandwich, or, better yet, serve it after apple picking at a U-pick orchard 🙂

If you don’t have caramelized onions on hand, use this shortened recipe. Caramelized onions are “da bomb”! I’m so skibidi! I think that’s a good thing, but I’m not really sure… Any leftover caramelized onions can be stored in the refrigerator and used on burgers or stirred into a variety of other dishes. Don’t waste them!

Quick Caramelized Onions

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 large, sweet onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• ½ cup white wine, or chicken broth or vegetable broth
• ½ cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large skillet, add butter and olive oil. Heat the pan over medium-high heat until the butter has melted and combined with olive oil. 
2. Add the sliced onions to the hot pan and season with salt and pepper.  Coat onions with butter and olive oil, and let cook until onions are transparent, golden brown in color and start to get dry, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. When onions are cooked through, add white wine or broth and brown sugar, stirring constantly.
4. Immediately sauté onions until brown sugar has dissolved and the white wine (or other liquid) has evaporated, and the onions are thick and caramelized.
5. Turn off heat, and set aside until ready to assemble sandwiches

Enjoy!