See how I did that?  Rearranged the words?  That’s how we fancy up recipes around here.  Make them just a little pretentious.The Beefaroni Provolone Panini recipe is seriously a 10 minute meal and showcases a simple technique anyone can use to make a panini or pressed sandwich without a specialized panini press.  Yes, it uses canned pasta. No, I’m not crazy.

Sometimes you just need to get people fed. And if you can “healthy up” some store bought supplies, all the better.  This sandwich is comfort food, cooks on the stove top so it tastes like a real homemade meal, and is a quick and easy way of making something from a can taste like something from the heart.  Plus, it’s got calcium and veggies, to boot.

Now, the HEB Meal Maker challenge is about getting an easy homemade meal on the table quickly, so here I used frozen garlic toast for the bread.  Boom! Dinner is done.

This sandwich would be excellent with any sturdy bread, including whole wheat or ciabatta.  Use what you have and what your family loves.  But add garlic if you use your own bread. You can never have enough garlic.

Oh! I almost forgot. GO VOTE FOR ME!  This is the last week of the challenge and I’m STILL in third place.  You have no idea how much I want my sandwich to blow the competition out of the water.  But in order to do that, I need YOU. And your click on the “vote for this recipe” button. You can vote once per day!

The key to keeping this tasty sandwich together is to place cheese between the layers and press well until the cheese oozes out in a pile of melty goodness.   Also- grill both sides of the bread.  You’ll thank me when you take your first bite.

This recipe is perfect for nights when the children want their favorite Chef Boyardee but the adults want something a little more grown up, or as a quick way to make Beefaroni into a portable food for kids on the go.   The pepperoncinis take the sandwich from “pretty good” to “FABULOUS! MUST EAT MOAH”

And boy these sandwiches bring back memories.  Growing up, whenever we would have a sitter my mother would buy a giant can of Chef Boyardee ravioli to feed all of us.  Isn’t it funny how certain foods just taste like childhood?

Chef Boyardee tastes like moms putting on mascara , late nights, and teaming up with my sisters and brothers to put one over on the babysitter.  Well, figuratively speaking. It really doesn’t taste like mascara.   It tastes like mischief. It tastes like being 5 years old.

Do you have a childhood memory food?

Blogging with integrity: I was provided with supplies and HEB gift cards to facilitate this post. If you vote for me and I’m in the top two finalists, I get to have a cook off with additional prizes!  So help me win!