Panini, Bruschetta, Crostini

Move over pasta and pizza, here come panini, bruschetta and crostini! The world of sandwiches, Italian style. But not sandwiches oozing mayonnaise and dripping with calories. Viana's panini are healthy and light and feature the very foods we want to eat today -- from sautéed greens to lean ricotta, from fresh grilled fruit. These heavenly bread-based creations include recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, antipasti, party foods, and delicious desserts and indulgences for any time of the day. So instead of an egg salad sandwich try a frittata spread with fig jam, nestled between slices of rustic country bread. Tuna salad lovers will gladly forsake tuna on rye once they've experienced the Panino con Carciofi e Tonno, a crusty roll filled with tuna, marinated baby artichokes, and black olive pesto. And chocoholics will rejoice when they taste the toasted bittersweet chocolate panino pictured on the jacket, which puts all other chocolate snacks to shame. Recipes also abound for panini made with focaccia, grilled panini, and for tramezzini -- small elegant panini made with thinly sliced breads and sophisticated fillings such as smoked salmon, cucumber and watercress, or sliced chicken breast, strips of radicchio, pine nuts, and currants. Ice cream panini, baked fresh fruit bruschetta, and crostini with mascarpone and cherries are just a few of the luscious desserts in this lively new full-color cookbook from Viana La Place. Why eat plain old sandwiches every day when you can treat yourself to panini?