Creating interesting sandwiches is always a fun challenge. It is best pursued when there is a wealth of ingredients on hand, and during our recent holiday at the beach, we had a good 20 or 25 possible fillings (palaman) 
including several kinds of cheese (provolone, cheddar, feta, mozzarella, parmesan, etc.), cold cuts (turkey ham, salami, ham, etc.), grilled vegetables, various salads and lots of dips. So doodling one lunchtime, I came up with this terrific sandwich made with ciabatta bread that was first toasted in a panini press with lots of butter to crisp it up, then I shmeared the bottom piece with tapenade or olive paste, piled on a few cold peeled steamed prawns leftover from a previous dinner, added some cucumber dip, strips of grilled red and yellow peppers and dollops of pesto sauce. It was excellent! Crisp bread, soft shrimp and several spreads/dips with sharp hits of olive, basil and sweet peppers…
Others at lunch made salami sandwiches with melted cheese, or ham and cheese melts of some sort, or a vegetarian tomato, mozzarella and pesto paninis. Creativity 
is only limited by one’s refusal to experiment… And somehow, it tastes good simply because you made it yourself. Kids and adults alike universally seem to enjoy creating their own signature sandwiches and the results vary in infinite ways. When all is said and done, it doesn’t even need to be elaborate… having consumed my share of sandwiches and salads and dips, I still had a little room to spare… so I took a small pita triangle, added one peeled shrimp and a dollop of pesto and it was the perfect way to fill that final gap…yum!
6 Responses
Your panini sandwich buffet station sounds fun, delicious and discretion is the limit. Other than that it hits everyone with their heart’s delight. I do not have a panini press – I wrap a brick stone with aluminum foil and just flip my olive oil enriched bread over. It does the work too!
I really like the Greek side of you Mr. Marketman, here in Cyprus I often wonder if I can get all my favourite Greek-Cypriot food in the Philippines, with this entry, you showed me I can…. The mezze style entry is beautifully presented. When you have time visit us here in Cyprus and I’ll show you the other types of mezze….take care
The pictures are lovely. Just curious, what type of panini press do you use?
the shrimp and the pesto looks soo good..
Where do you buy the olives to make the olive paste (I am assumin it is made fresh)? We currently are buying the majority of our olives during trips overseas.
hmmm….with no doubt this seems absolutely yumm!