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.

Do-ahead Potatoes

Just as the name implies, it's a dish you can make ahead and bake another day.  The ingredient list is simple but the taste is phenomenal!  This recipe came from my great-grandma's hairdreser.  It was made it for many holiday meals.  I'm sure she used full on fat cream cheese and regular sour cream but I lightened it up a little but using the light versions of both.

Do-ahead Potatoes                                                                     Printable Recipe

8-10 medium size russet potatoes

1/2 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

2 Tablespoons grated onion

8 ounce package light cream cheese

1 cup light sour cream

About 2 Tablespoons butter

Peel and wash potatoes, chunk and boil for 15 to 20 minutes or until fork inserts easily into potato. Drain well.

Make mashed potatoes with your mixer out of the cooked potatoes, milk, salt and pepper. You may need more or less milk depending on how large your potatoes are.

Add cream cheese, sour cream, and onion.  Mix until blended.

Spread into 7x11"  or 8x8" baking dish.

Dot with butter slices and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

The butter will melt and the top will start to be golden brown.  It may be even more brown that this photo. This one arrived late to the Thanksgiving meal and we hurried this one along with the help of a microwave and broiler at the end.

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