Eggplant Panini

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Brush the eggplant rounds lightly with canola oil (or olive oil) and place in a foil-lined baking pan. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, flipping once, until eggplant is fork-tender and golden. Keep an eye on the eggplant, as it can easily get too soft.
4. Preheat your panini press.
5. After eggplant is done, assemble the sandwiches. We like ours in this order: bread, cheese, 2 slices of eggplant, 2 slices of tomato, cheese, bread.
6. Grill on the panini press until bread is crisp and sandwiches are heated through. You can also bake these in the oven at 400F until the cheese is melted and sandwiches are heated through. We don’t usually put any oil/butter on the outside of the sandwiches when we use the press, but you might want to if you bake them in the oven.
7. Enjoy!