Cuban Panini with Quick Pickles

Cuban Panini with Quick Pickles for the true panini connoisseurs.

My husband’s all time favorite food is a good sandwich. Especially paninis. He will eat almost any kind of panini. And seeing that it was his birthday this week, I wanted to make him a special panini and I came across this recipe in the Shortcut Cooking magazine so I knew I had to try it.

I mean just the name of this panini sounds delicious. And the sandwich is fabulous too. Have you ever had pork marinated in orange juice and lemon and lemon juice? It’s totally divine! I’ve never had citrus flavored pork and I probably would have thought it weird before, but trust me, it works. It’s so good.

The recipe for the pork roast is probably enough for 8 sandwiches, but this meat was so good, that I made the 4 sandwiches and the leftover meat was gone in a few seconds, between my husband and my dog. Major competition there, if you know what I mean. When I make any kind of meat in the oven, this dog of mine parks herself in front of the oven and won’t move. She guards that oven with her life. But hey, that’s why I love her. 🙂 Her quirky personality.

Anyway if you don’t have a hungry dog and a hungry husband, you could actually have some left over pork roast and it will last in the fridge for about 3 days. It would make a perfect dinner served with some easy mashed potatoes or some grilled plantains and sweet potatoes for a true Cuban dinner.

Now if you’re making the paninis, I strongly suggest you use a good Ciabatta bread. It totally makes the sandwich. The cucumber and red onion salad that goes on these paninis, is unbelievably good, you could eat it just on its own.

This is a good panini. It’s so worth all the trouble.

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Cuban Panini with Quick Pickles

0 from 0 votes

Prep: 30 mins

Cook: 1 hr

Total: 1 hr 30 mins

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Serves: 8

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Cuban Panini with Quick Pickles for the true panini connoisseurs.

Ingredients

Cuban Style Pork Roast

• 1 lb pork tenderloin boneless1 lb pork tenderloin boneless
• 1/2 cup orange juice1/2 cup orange juice
• 3 tbsp lemon juice3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp soy sauce low sodium1 tbsp soy sauce low sodium
• 4 cloves garlic minced4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp oregano dried, crushed1 tsp oregano dried, crushed
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/4 tsp black pepper freshly ground1/4 tsp black pepper freshly ground

Cuban Panini with Quick Pickles

• 1 English cucumber thinly sliced 1 English cucumber thinly sliced
• 1 small red onion thinly sliced 1 small red onion thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp lime juice2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tsp oregano fresh2 tsp oregano fresh
• 2 tsp sugar2 tsp sugar
• 2 Ciabatta bread2 Ciabatta bread
• 8 oz Swiss cheese sliced 8 oz Swiss cheese sliced

Instructions

Cuban-Style Pork Roast

• Place pork in a large ziploc bag and set in a shallow dish.
• Whisk together orange juice, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
• Pour marinade over pork and seal the bag. Refrigerate for 3 to 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
• Place pork in a baking dish and pour left over marinade over pork. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour.
• Remove pork from baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.

Cuban Panini with Quick Pickles

• In a small bowl combine cucumber, onion, lime juice, oregano, and sugar; set aside.
• Cut the Ciabatta bread in half horizontally. Top one slice of bread with half of the cheese and all of the pork. Place cucumber mixture on pork. Top with the remaining cheese and the second bread slice.
• Grill on a Panini maker for about 3 minutes or until grill marks form and the cheese has melted. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1gCalories: 462kcal (23%)Carbohydrates: 61g (20%)Protein: 30g (60%)Fat: 11g (17%)Saturated Fat: 6g (38%)Cholesterol: 63mg (21%)Sodium: 849mg (37%)Potassium: 363mg (10%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 4g (4%)Vitamin A: 305IU (6%)Vitamin C: 13.6mg (16%)Calcium: 247mg (25%)Iron: 1mg (6%)

Course:Lunch

Cuisine:Cuban

Keyword:cuban panini, panini, panini recipe

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