A very brief scene from the TV show Bob’s Burgers inspired me to write about a sandwich. But as you probably saw in the photo above, this particular sandwich is not a burger. If you’ve never heard of Bob’s Burgers, it’s an animated show about a guy named Bob Belcher, his wife Linda, and their kids Tina, Gene, and Louise. The series is focused on the burger restaurant that they run—and live above—in a small, fictional, oceanside town called Seymour’s Bay, New Jersey.
Technically, Linda says, “Zucchini AND Weenie Paninis,” but no one will ever notice that I removed a word in the title.
I did not start watching Bob’s Burgers when it premiered on Fox back in 2011. I got into it a few years later and didn’t even really start to watch it regularly until I found it on Hulu a few years back. Since then, I’ve watched through all the seasons at least a couple of times, and I often will put an episode or two on when I get in bed and end up falling asleep to it. The show is very comforting and while there are some fart jokes and sillyness, there’s also a lot of wholesome moments to balance things out.
What is this sandwich?
A zucchini and weenie panini was briefly mentioned in Season 4, Episode 11, titled Easy Com-mercial, Easy Go-mercial. This is a Super Bowl-focused episode where Bob and the family try to concoct a football-themed commercial for the restaurant that will air during the big game.
At some point in the episode, Linda gives Bob a grocery list and tells him they’re going to have Zucchini and Weenie Paninis, and she assures him that he will “love ’em.”
I first heard Linda speak the sandwich name late one night while I was on the edge of sleep, and I immediately sat up and jotted “zucchini weenie panini” in my Sandwich Ideas note on my phone. Everyone does that, right?
As far as I’m aware, we the viewer, never again hear about these sandwiches in this episode or any future episode, so I’m not 100% sure what Zucchini Weenie Paninis are, but I spent some time thinking about them and have created what I think is a really good version of what I think these sandwiches could be.
My version of the Zucchini Weenie Panini contains the vegetable known as zucchini, as well as weenies in the form of either hot dogs or bratwurst (I tried and enjoyed both). The sandwich also features melty cheese, a 2-ingredient, slightly spicy mayonnaise, and a tomato and onion-based condiment that is a nice balance between sweet and savory. These ingredients, plus the seared zucchini and sausage, are sandwiched between a slightly chewy homemade ciabatta roll that has been panini’ed with just a bit of butter to form a crispy exterior.
In Season 12, Episode 14 of Bob’s Burgers—Video Killed the Gene-io Star—a restaurant named Grandpa Nini’s Grand Paninis is mentioned, and Gene orders a Turkey and cheese with extra pepperoncinis and fried zucchini. Still not a Zucchini Weenie Panini though. The show writers just love rhymes.
I’m sure some of you aren’t here for the Bob’s Burgers show content and you want to read about sandwich stuff, so you can jump down the page to read about all the components of this sandwich, or you can travel down even further to get to the sandwich photos and full recipe, but first, I want to share some things I enjoy about the Bob’s Burgers TV show.
Bob’s Burgers music
Bob’s Burgers is not a musical, but a large percentage of episodes of the show do contain songs or at least a musical element. Often, the songs are sung by multiple characters, and they have a bit of a show tune theme of multiple characters singing together in harmony. None of the characters necessarily have voices that you would think were musical standouts, but often they really work with the songs and lyrics.
Season 9, Episode 16 is called Roamin’ Bob-iday, and it’s one of my favorite episodes. Bob is working too much, and the family strongly encourages him to take the day off. He’s wandering around town and stumbles upon a sandwich restaurant called Patricia’s 77 Sandwiches. The restaurant gets busy, and Bob ends up jumping behind the counter to help Patricia get caught up.
THE I HATE TO SEE YOU BRIE-VE BUT I LOVE TO WATCH YOU GO BURGER
After Bob finishes helping Patricia, we get the following song that Bob sings about how cooking and “serving some food to some guy” is something that makes him really happy.
This is a very wholesome song, and there’s also a second song in the episode that I enjoyed as well, which is also in that video.
Patricia, voiced by Tiffany Haddish, does a little end credits sing-along where she is quizzed by the Belchers on the 77 sandwiches on her menu.
Someone with a lot more talent than I have at drawing in Bob’s Burgers style also seems to have enjoyed the Patricia’s 77 Sandwiches episode, and they created an Instagram of their drawings of sandwiches from Patricia’s menu. Sadly, they didn’t get very far and stopped updating the account. But the few sandwiches they did draw are pretty impressive.
Now, it’s time for my second favorite song.
The next song that I’m a big fan of is from Season 8, Episode 21, entitled Something Old, Something New, Something Bob Caters for You. Two local town residents who had their first date in the burger restaurant three months ago have gotten engaged, and they returned to ask Bob and the rest of the Belcher family if they will cater their wedding.
The wedding itself is somewhat fraught with problems, and this causes Bob to feel pressured to save the day with his burgers.
THE STOP OR MY MOM WILL SHOOTS BURGER
(topped with pea shoots)
The song is called “This Wedding Is My Warzone,” and it’s a great duet between Bob and Linda where Bob is proclaiming how he is the equivalent of a doctor in a warzone, and if he caters the wedding well, he can save the special day with perfect burgers. It’s just a fun song with cheeseburgers as the medium for Bob’s artistry.
Here are a couple of other songs that are favorites of mine as well as favorites from Redditors in the Bob’s Burgers subreddit.
The Bob’s Burgers Burger Book
I also own The Bob’s Burgers Burger Book, which contains a whole bunch of recipes based on the names of Bob’s burgers of the day, which are typically punny-named burgers that are written on the chalkboard behind the counter of the restaurant. If you like burger puns, here’s a Thrillist listicle from 2015 attempting to rank 149 Burgers of the Day.
Someone named Cole Bowden started a Tumblr blog in 2013 where they tried to recreate each burger of the day and showcase photos and a recipe. At some point, a year or so later, Bowden was contacted by Loren Bouchard, the head writer and producer of Bob’s Burgers, and they teamed up to create the Bob’s Burgers Burger Book, with Bouchard (and the writers of Bob’s Burgers) writing the words/descriptions of each burger and Bowden creating the burger recipe.
ITSY BITSY TEENY WEENIE YELLOW POLKA-DOT ZUCCHINI BURGER
The cookbook does not contain the Zucchini Weenie Panini (because it only showcases burger recipes from the chalkboard), but it does have the Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Zucchini Burger and an accompanying illustration of the components of the burger. Here you can see an example of what I’m talking about with photos from my copy of the book.
Overall, I like the Bob’s Burgers cookbook. I haven’t really cooked anything from it, so I can’t vouch for the recipes, but they look pretty easy to follow, and the sections with tips and tricks for making burgers and fries seem to be written well with some knowledgeable content. If you’re a Bob’s Burgers fan and you don’t plan to use the recipes, this cookbook would still be nice to have on the coffee table as a conversation piece (do people still do that?).
My own Bob’s Burger art
A couple of months ago, I bought a tablet with a nice stylus, and at night, while my wife and I are streaming some TV shows, I have been messing around making digital drawings. One of the first things I tried was attempting to recreate (and fix) the piece of art that’s shown on the wall of Bob’s Burgers restaurant. The version on the wall of the restaurant is missing cheese!
I created another piece of Bob’s Burgers-style art dedicated to the Zucchini Weenie Panini that’s down the page, near the recipes and photos of the actual sandwich. Now that we’ve gotten all the Bob’s Burgers content out of the way, we can talk about the sandwich. Finally!
Zucchini Weenie Panini components
Now I’m going to walk through all the components of the sandwich I created. Hopefully, Linda will be happy with what I made.
Zucchini
A zucchini is a type of squash, specifically a summer squash. It’s one of those hybrid things that’s classified as a fruit, but for cooking purposes, it’s treated as a vegetable. Zucchini is long and tube-shaped, so it won’t really fit inside a sandwich unless we slice it. I prefer to slice into planks by severing the zucchini in half across the middle and then making 1/4 inch thick slices, but you could cut yours into circles if you prefer that.
In the Sunset Kitchen Cabinet Recipes, Vol 2 cookbook from 1934, Mrs. L. L. A. from Sacramento, CA shared her “Zucchini Weenie” recipe, which is a seared hot dog inside of a cored out Zucchini.
Once you have your flat pieces of zucchini that will fit inside a sandwich, the rest is easy. I season both sides and sear them to soften the texture right beside the next component of our sandwich.
You can season the zucchini with whatever you like. I prefer this Cajun seasoning that I make, but you can buy some at the store, too.
Weenie
I think Linda Belcher probably would have been using regular hot dogs in her Zucchini Weenie Paninis. The Belchers aren’t fancy people, and they’re not wealthy, so she probably keeps a pretty tight grocery store budget (unless Bob is buying the turkey for Thanksgiving).
I used the Jumbo kind of Vienna Beef hot dogs, which basically just means they’re a thicker hot dog, but still a hot dog, and I also bought some Nueske’s brand bacon cheddar bratwursts, which are precooked and simply need to be heated up and served.
THE FOR BUTTER OR FOR WURST BURGER
(with butter pickles and sausage)
But you can use whatever sausage you like best in this sort of sandwich. I just find it easiest if you slice the sausage from end to end almost all the way through and open it up like a book, or butterfly. This allows you to get a sear on a large bit of flat surface, and it also means you can lay the weenies flat inside the sandwich. It makes a big difference when you try to build a sandwich with a hot dog rolling around in the middle of the other ingredients.
Sausage in a sandwich tip: while you probably enjoy having a sausage with a casing that snaps when you bite through it on a hot dog roll, I’m not so sure it’s great in a sandwich with a bunch of other components. When you’re eating a brat in a roll, you know exactly where the sausage is when you take a bite because it’s visible, and you’re prepared to have to bite through the slightly tougher exterior. But when that sausage is in a panini, it’s not typically visible, and you might not be prepared to snap through the casing with your teeth during each bite. This is why a regular old hot dog might be a bit better in a panini than a bratwurst or other type of larger sausage.
Ciabatta sandwich rolls (the panini part)
I’ve shared my ciabatta sandwich roll recipe a few times (5) at this point. Some readers of this sandwich blog might not know this, but whenever a recipe is included in a blog post, the blog title and sandwich image will show up at the bottom of a full recipe page. You can see all the other five times that I’ve used this particular bread recipe and written about it.
Ciabatta is a good type of bread to use in a panini because it’s usually not too tall and it typically has a somewhat crusty exterior with a soft but slightly chewy interior. All of those things will help the bread when it is buttered or oiled and seared, while also being flattened by a press.
My recipe normally works for 6 ciabatta rolls, but I cut this batch into 4 larger rolls to see if they would be too overwhelming in size. They’re pretty big, but since the panini presses the sandwich down a lot, I think it worked, but I will probably go back to 5 or 6 rolls next time.
In the actual recipe for these rolls, I do have graphics that show how to measure out and shape/cut the dough to get the size of rolls you might want.
Here’s my ciabatta sandwich roll recipe. If you don’t want to bake your own rolls, you could probably find something that would be similar at the grocery store, or you could use a soft sub roll to panini for this sandwich as well.
Ciabatta sandwich rolls
Light and airy rolls with a wide interior surface area for lots of sandwich spreads, meats and cheeses. The outer crust is a bit crunchy, but these rolls have a good bite perfect for sandwiching.
Get RecipeCalabrian chili mayonnaise
This is one of those two-ingredient combinations that’s barely able to be called a recipe. But it is, damnit. It’s a recipe! And it’s actually pretty good. If you’ve never had them, Calabrian chili peppers should be pretty easy to find at the grocery store, and they really punch up the flavor of the mayo. It will be a little bit spicy, but it doesn’t really add a whole lot of heat when it’s spread into a sandwich. Just that touch of spice gives the sandwich a whole new twist.
SWEET CHILI O’ MINE BURGER
I’m pretty sure even Tina Belcher, who finds ranch dressing to be exotic, would enjoy this kicked-up mayo in her next ham and cheese.
Calabrian chili mayonnaise
A slightly spicy mayonnaise that will up the ante on your next sandwich.
Get RecipeSavory tomato and onion jam
I created this recipe for a savory jam that is balanced by a bit of brown sugar when I was creating another panini-ed weiner sandwich. That was way back in January of 2022 when I created the Chicago hot dog sandwich in panini format. My mind immediately went back to that situation when I started planning this Zucchini Weenie Panini, and it worked really well.
HEADS SHOULDERS KNEES AND TOMATOES BURGER
This is a great use for tomatoes during the months when it’s not quite prime tomato season. You chop them up and simmer the tomatoes with brown sugar, salt, celery salt, black pepper, onion powder, and balsamic vinegar for about 20 minutes until they become jammy in texture, and then remove from the heat and fold in some diced onion. The onions will cook just a little from the heat of the tomato jam, which tenderizes them a little, but it still leaves them with a bit of texture, making the jam have a bit more contrast.
Savory tomato and onion jam
A savory spread that can give you a great alternative on sandwiches when tomatoes aren't in season.
Get RecipeCheese blend (mozzarella)
For my Zucchini Weenie Paninis, I used a blend of two different types of mozzarella. The main reason I used these two cheeses blended together was that I was also at the same time planning to make a Scarr’s pizza cookbook recipe, which required a 50/50 blend of whole milk mozzarella and part-skim mozzarella. The only whole milk mozzarella I could find at that moment was a whole pound, so I ended up with 2 pounds of shredded cheese.
You, on the other hand, will likely not have that much cheese in your fridge, so I would suggest that you use any cheese that you can find that is fairly creamy, that you can shred yourself.
I would suggest mozzarella, Monterey Jack, Colby Jack, or even cheddar if you want. You could also use sliced cheese for this sandwich. Pick whatever you have on hand or whatever cheese you think would work well with the sausage and zucchini.
Panini process
I have a panini press. I know a lot of people do not. If you have a panini press, this process is pretty easy, but it’s also fairly easy to press a sandwich without one of these machines. You simply need something heavy, like a second pan or even a brick wrapped in aluminium foil, that you can use to press the sandwich down against the hot surface.
In the following photos, I am using a flat griddle that stretches across two burners of my stove, and then to press down the sandwich, I’m using a 9-inch cast iron skillet. Just balance the skillet on top and flip every couple of minutes to make sure you don’t get the exterior of the bread too dark.
Zucchini Weenie Panini photos and recipe
LINDA’S ZUCCHINI AND WEENIE PANINI
(The Bounded by Buns interpretation of Linda Belcher’s famous sandwich on homemade ciabatta with a savory tomato and onion jam, calabrian chili mayonnaise, and melty mozzarella—not a burger)
For the build process of this sandwich, you can mostly look at the graphic above and get a gist. I do add more cheese to the sandwich, though, because the shredded cheese helps things inside the sandwich stick together during the cooking and eating process. I slice the ciabatta, spread some Calabrian mayo on the bottom slice, and put half of the cheese on top of the mayo, under the zucchini and sausage. Then, on top of the sausage, I add the tomato jam and the rest of the cheese before I add the top part of the ciabatta roll.
Zucchini weenie panini sandwich (from Bob's Burgers)
This sandwich pairs tender zucchini with a savory weenie in a fully composed panini situation. We're talking about a great sandwich experience with creamy cheese, spicy and sweet components, and a buttery and crunchy exterior.
Ingredients:
Tomato and onion jam- 1 pound Roma tomatoes, diced (4 to 6 tomatoes)
- 1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1⁄4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1⁄4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1⁄4 white or yellow onion, diced (add at very end)
- 6 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons crushed Calabrian chilis
- 1 hot dog or fully cooked brat or sausage
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 or 4 quarter-inch thick slices of zucchini (enough to make a single layer on your bread)
- Cajun seasoning (or just salt and black pepper)
- 1 Ciabatta roll or French sandwich roll
- Calabrian chili mayonnaise (from above)
- 2 to 3 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese (can use provolone, Monterey Jack or any other shredded cheese)
- Zucchini slices (from above)
- Weenies (hot dogs from above)
- tomato and onion jam (from above)
- 1 tablespoon butter
Directions:
Tomato and onion jam: in a medium pot over medium heat, add all of your diced tomatoes and sprinkle the salt and celery salt over them. Stir occasionally while the tomatoes cook for about 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, the tomatoes should be releasing some of their liquid, and you can add the brown sugar, onion powder, black pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Stir everything to combine and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
After about 20 minutes, everything should be getting closer to a jam-like consistency. If you would like it to thicken up more at this point, you can cook for another few minutes, but keep an eye on it and watch the consistency.
Once the texture of the tomato jam is where you'd prefer, add all of your diced onion and remove the pot from the heat. Stir to combine the onions fully.
Remove all of your jam into a sealed container and you can store it in the fridge for up to a week.
Calabrian chili mayo: in a medium bowl, add mayonnaise and Calabrian chilis and whisk to combine. Taste and add a pinch of ground black pepper if desired.
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Griddled zucchini and weenie: place a griddle or pan over medium-high heat. Preheat the pan for 5 minutes.
Slice a hot dog or cooked sausage from end to end, almost all the way through, and open it up like a book or butterfly. Place the hot dog, flat side down in the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
Cut a zucchini in half and slice 3 or 4 slices about 1/4-inch thick. Try to get slices that will form a full layer inside your bread. In a small bowl, add the olive oil and the zucchini and toss to coat the zucchini slices in olive oil and then season with a dusting of Cajun seasoning or just salt and pepper. Place the slices of zucchini in the pan or griddle with the hot dog and cook for about 2 minutes per side.
Once the zucchini is in the pan, flip the weenie and cook for an additional 4 minutes.
Remove both the hot dog and zucchini to a plate to rest while you build the sandwich. Wipe out the pan and remove it from the heat if you plan to use it for panini.
Sandwich assembly: spread some Calabrian chili mayonnaise on the bottom slice of the roll. Top with half of the shredded cheese.
Layer the zucchini slices and then top them with the hot dogs/sausages. Spread on some tomato jam and then add the second portion of the cheese. Top with the top of the bread roll.
Panini: butter both sides of the sandwich and cook it in a panini press until the bread gets crusty and browned. If you do not have a panini press, you can use a hot cast-iron skillet with another skillet on top of the sandwich, pressing it down. This will grill the bottom side, and you will have to flip the sandwich, but it will work just fine.
Once both sides of the bread are browned and the cheese is melty, serve and enjoy.
Check back next week
Next week we’ll be making gravy! No. That’s not a euphemism.
Get your blood pressure ready for gravy week!
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