Review: Aldi - Mama Cozzi's Cuban-Style Panini

Mama Cozzi's Cuban-Style Panini from Aldi features ham, roast pork, cheese, pickles, and mustard surrounded by panini-pressed bread.

I bought one for $1.99.

I ended up microwaving this for 30 seconds and then finishing it on a cast iron to give it a bit of a sear and crunch.

While the bread turned out nicely with a slight crispness and a soft, dense crumb, it was too thick for the thin layer of fillings.

While the ends looked like a decent amount of meat, cutting the sandwich in half revealed just a single layer of ham and roast pork. The meat had a good texture to it but both the ham and roast pork lacked any flavor. They weren't even salty. The pickles and mustard were similarly missing in action on the flavor front with none of the expected tanginess from either.

The cheese turned out better with some good, melty ooze to it. It was very mild though but creamy.

Basically, beyond the feel of the meat and cheese, Mama Cozzi's Cuban-Style Panini just felt like eating bread--nice, warm bread--but plain bread nonetheless.

Nutritional Info - Mama Cozzi's Cuban-Style Panini (198g)
Calories - 420 (from Fat - 280)
Fat - 11g (Saturated Fat - 5g)
Sodium - 900mg
Carbs - 54g (Sugar - 3g)
Protein - 26g