Turkey Pesto Panini

Thanksgiving Turkey is delicious but no matter how moist it was when it was served it can quickly dry out in the days following. Transform your leftovers with a little help from Hellmann’s Mayonnaise.   Hellmann’s Mayonnaise is made with real, quality ingredients; like eggs, oil and vinegar and will make turkey moist and delicious. 

This loaded panini is one of the perfect ways to use up your leftover Thanksgiving turkey!  You can even use up the leftover rolls (if there are any) to make smaller slider size paninis.

I wanted to use fresh sliced tomatoes and my husband suggested marinara so I made it both ways.  We tried bites of each of them and while he preferred the marinara I liked both!

Turkey Pesto Panini (recipe makes 2 sandwiches)                         Printable Recipe

1 Tablespoon Hellmann’s Mayonnaise 
1 teaspoon pesto, purchased or homemade
4 slices of bread (or 2 larger rolls cut in half)
4-6 tomatoes slices or 2 Tablespoons marinara sauce
leftover turkey (slices or manageable pieces)
2 slices mozzarella (or your favorite sliced melting cheese)
olive oil (optional)

Mix together pesto and Hellmann's mayonnaise.

Spread the mixture on the top slices of each sandwiches, using half for each.

Add 1 tablespoon marinara sauce to the bottom slice of bread OR slices of tomatoes - whichever is your preference.

 Add your sliced leftover Thanksgiving turkey to the top slices.

 Add your mozzarella to the bottom slice.  I used my shredded goat mozzarella.

My large bread rolls did not need any olive oil.  If I had used sliced bread I would have used some to aid in browning.  Brush on olive on to top outside piece and place face down in grill pan that has been pre-heated on medium.  Brush other outside piece with olive oil.  

Grill until the bread is golden and the cheese is melted, about 2-3 minutes per side. I used my bacon press to compress the sandwich like a panini maker. Any pan will do and you can use your pancake turner to press down on your sandwich. The only thing that will be missing will be the grill marks and ridges.  Your sandwich will still taste yummy!

The top two sandwich pieces in this photo have marinara and the bottom two I used fresh tomatoes.

Visit www.hellmanns.com to find more recipes to try! Don’t forget to add Hellmann’s Mayonnaise to your shopping list when you’re at the grocery store picking up items for your Thanksgiving meal– it’s the secret to great-tasting leftovers!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Modern Mom Insider for Hellmann’s. All opinions expressed are 100% mine.