Turkey Brie Cranberry Spinach Panini

Thirty-four weeks. Six weeks to go. Jessica is in the home stretch and everything is harder now — getting out of bed, getting into the car, finding a comfortable position to sleep (there isn't one), tolerating the heat (impossible). Diego is big. The doctor says he's measuring in the 80th percentile for weight, which Jessica attributes to my cooking and I attribute to genetics and we're both probably right.

The baby shower was this weekend. Jessica's work friends organized it, along with my mom and Jessica's friend Megan. They did it at our house because Jessica doesn't want to go anywhere, and I was exiled to my parents' house for the afternoon with Sofia, which Roberto interpreted as a personal invitation to teach his granddaughter about the grill. I came back to find Sofia sitting on my dad's lap in front of the cinder block grill, watching Roberto flip chicken, saying "hot" every time the flames licked up. She's been saying "hot" since she was eighteen months old. She's never been wrong.

The shower, by all reports, was a success. Twenty women in our living room, eating finger foods and playing games about babies. Jessica received an absurd quantity of tiny clothing, a breast pump, a diaper bag shaped like a backpack, and a handmade blanket from Elena that she'd been crocheting in secret for two months — soft blue yarn with white edges and "Diego" stitched in one corner. Jessica cried when she opened it. Elena cried because Jessica was crying. My mom sent me a photo of both of them crying and I showed it to my dad and he shook his head and said "women" in a tone that was ninety percent bewilderment and ten percent total, absolute devotion.

After the shower, when the house was clean and Sofia was in bed, Jessica and I sat on the couch and looked at all the tiny clothes. Tiny socks. Tiny onesies. Tiny pants that would fit on a large doll. She held up a pair of baby Jordans that Orozco's wife had given us and said "Marcus, these are smaller than my hand." And they were. Diego's entire foot will fit in my palm. My son's foot. In my palm. The bigness of that smallness — I don't have words for it. I don't think anyone does.

Made something simple for dinner after the chaos: grilled cheese and tomato soup. Sourdough, sharp cheddar, Hatch green chile. Tomato soup from a can because sometimes a can of soup is exactly what the day calls for and pretending otherwise is pretentious. We ate on the couch surrounded by baby clothes and I thought: six more weeks. Six weeks and our family doubles in noise and halves in sleep. I cannot wait.

Grilled cheese is my baseline comfort food — sourdough, something good and melty, done. But if you want to take that same instinct and give it a little more to offer, this Turkey Brie Cranberry Spinach Panini is where I’ve landed on the nights when the house finally goes quiet and you just need something warm in your hands. It has that same pressed, golden quality that made dinner on the couch feel like exactly the right call — just with a little more going on inside. Make it when the day has been full and you want something that tastes like you tried, even if you didn’t.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 8 minutes | Total Time: 13 minutes | Servings: 2

Ingredients

4 slices sourdough or ciabatta bread
6 oz sliced deli turkey
4 oz brie cheese, rind removed, sliced
3 tablespoons whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 cup fresh baby spinach
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Prep the bread. Lay all four slices of bread on a clean surface. Spread the softened butter evenly on one side of each slice — this will be the outer, grilled side.
Build the sandwich. Flip two slices butter-side down. Spread Dijon mustard on the inner face of those two slices. Layer with turkey, brie slices, a spoonful of cranberry sauce, and a handful of fresh spinach. Season lightly with salt and black pepper. Top with the remaining bread slices, butter-side up.
Press and grill. Heat a panini press or cast iron skillet over medium heat. If using a skillet, place a heavy pan on top of the sandwiches to press them down. Cook 3—4 minutes per side until the bread is deep golden and the brie is fully melted.
Rest and slice. Remove from heat and let rest for 1 minute before slicing diagonally. Serve immediately while the brie is still warm and pull-apart melty.

Nutrition (per serving)

Turkey Brie Cranberry Spinach Panini — The Sandwich That Holds the Night Together