The Panini Lunch Bunch

It's the first Friday in October, near lunch time, and Michelle Jackson is busy setting up the panini press in Theresa Rubin's fourth-grade classroom at .

From her magic bag of tricks, Jackson pulls a loaf of bread, tubs of fresh basil pesto and sun-dried tomato pesto, a squirt bottle of olive oil, sliced turkey and sliced Swiss cheese.

As the panini press heats, voila! Next, she pulls out a lovely bowl of fresh cut fruit, bags of baby carrots, corn chips and fresh guacamole. Her son Travis, who is a student in the classroom, and his friend Carson Baer, help set them up on a work table that will be the buffet.

It's a feast in the making, but only if you've done your required reading. For this class, that means 20 minutes a day, or a total of 500 minutes for the month of September, logged and signed by your parent.

"There were a few crushed expressions when some kids realized they hadn't done enough reading," Rubin said.

During the years she's been teaching at Webster, Rubin has used various kinds of rewards to encourage at-home reading.

"These kinds of things are very motivational," she said. "Next month, those kids will be sure to have read enough because they really want to be a part of it."

Never fear, the children who didn't do the required reading won't starve! They simply buy cafeteria lunch as usual or eat the meal they packed from home. But they can't be part of the panini lunch bunch.

Jackson has been volunteering to do the panini lunches for four or five years in various classes at the behest of several teachers. For the previous two years, Marcia Nix used it as motivation for her second- and third-grade classes to reward those who turned in their homework every day.

Jackson, who caters on occasion, said the hot sandwiches have been popular from the start.

"I have one neighbor boy, Tristan Irons, who is one of my biggest fans," she said. "He'll come over and pop in and say, 'Are you making the panini?' And even if I'm not, I'll make one for him."

Her family, including Travis, Charlotte (eighth-grade), Rae (11th-grade) and husband Andy, eat the panini all the time. When she makes them for adults, Jackson includes fresh arugula in the sandwich. This day, for the children of Room 15, an arugula-free sandwich seems to fit the bill. In fact, Jackson will make several additional sandwiches without turkey and with a smear of sun-dried pesto, a thin layer of butter and sliced cheddar for those children who won't eat turkey.

"It's so simple and the kids really do love it," Jackson said. "A few of the kids kind of scrambled to get their work done toward the end, but hey, whatever it takes to help them learn to read well."

Lucky for you, and since you have done your reading by getting all the way to end of this article, your reward is her recipe. If you don't have a panini press at home, you can do this easily in a skillet or something like a George Foreman grill. Use whatever you have!

Wouldn't this be perfect with leftover roast Thanksgiving turkey?

Yes, I thought so too. 

Turkey Pesto Panini

From Michelle Jackson

If convenient, she will buy the bread and both pestos from  in Santa Monica. Otherwise, she will buy whatever brands she can find in Malibu.

For one sandwich

2 slices bread (she prefers Bay Cities filone bread, or if not available, Francisco brand Sheepherder's)
A smear of basil pesto (she gets hers at Bay Cities)
A smear of Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto (Cibo brand preferred; if unavailable, Contadina brand is available at Ralphs)
A thin slice or two of cooked turkey
A thin slice or two of Swiss cheese

Heat panini press. Spread basil pesto lightly on one bread slice. Spread sun-dried tomato pesto on top of the basil pesto. Lay turkey and Swiss cheese on top. Top with another piece of bread and place in panini press. Squirt outside of bread lightly with olive oil, spread with your fingers to smear the oil onto the bread, and close press. Allow to cook for a minute or two, until the sandwich has nice grill marks, the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted. Remove from grill onto a board, cut in 2, 3 or 4 pieces, and serve with fresh fruit and veggies.  

Serves 1. (Multiply by however many sandwiches you need.)