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Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Italian Garden Sandwich

Mezzetta just had a sandwich smackdown.  The rules of the game required using two of their products in a sandwich in one of three categories: hot, cold or vegetarian.  To say my local grocery carries a limited selection of their products would be overstating matters.  They had gardiniera, roasted mixed peppers and some pickled jalapenos.  Hmmmmmm, what sounded good?  Gardiniera is a bit lumpy to put in a sandwich.  Isn't that a great visual, someone eating a sandwich with a big, ole piece of cauliflower hanging out of it.  So, what would happen if you smooshed the veggies in the gardiniera?  Maybe turned them into an aioli?  Next decision, what kind of bread, meat and cheese?  The roasted peppers and the gardiniera aioli screamed Italian.  So, Italian it was. 

Saturday night I made a tomato tart that was pretty much a bust.  It looked gorgeous but the crust was gummy and I thought the filling needed a little oomph.  But, it was a Todd English recipe so I was convinced that it was salvageble.  The original recipe called for baking it in an 8" cast iron skillet but I wanted to use a tart pan since my 8" cast iron skillet is rather a wreck.  So, the idea was to make another on Sunday and pre-bake the crust.  That tart was halfway done - pre-baked and the ingredients ready to go - when I got around to reading the instructions on the Mezzetta site.  Big oops.  The contest was over on the 6th.  That meant I needed to make the sandwiches NOW and get the recipe entered NOW.  Well, fine then, we'd have the sandwiches for dinner and the tart for breakfast.  Problem solved.  Well, except for the fact that Connie whined that he couldn't have slices of happiness for two days in a row.  (I'll update the blog on those treats shortly.)



Italian Garden Sandwich

Ingredients:






1 heaping cup gardiniera vegetables, drained
1/2 c Hellman's olive oil mayonnaise
2 ciabatta buns
8 slices genoa salami
6 slices capicola
4 slices provolone cheese
roasted red and yellow peppers

Directions:

Put the vegetables in the bowl of a food processor



Process until they're crushed. 



Add the mayonnaise and process until you've got a slightly chunky aioli.

 

Toast the ciabatta buns.  Smear the cut sides with the aioli.



Layer on the meats, cheese and peppers.  Start with the salami, then half the provolone,



then the peppers



Then the other half of the provolone, then the capicola. 



You're using that order try and keep the peppers from slip-sliding away while you're eating the sandwich.  The melty cheese will envelope them...

Either wrap the sandwiches in foil and bake at 350 for about 15 min or grill them in a skillet on dry heat until the cheese melts. 



16 comments:

Julia said...

Well, that's just a sandwich filled with complete loveliness! I think I would still manage to make a mess while eating it though. All part of the fun! :)

Cajun Chef Ryan said...

Kate,
I love gardiniera vegetables, and this sandwich looks very much like a Muffeletta, the sandwich made famous by the Italian Central Grocery in New Orleans.

Très magnicifent et bon appetit!
CCR
=:~)

Anonymous said...

WOW! How amazing! What a fantastic sandwich

Kate said...

@ Chef Ryan - we love gardiniera too! I had no idea where the sandwich originate - more good trivia - thank you :-) And, I actually posted a muffaletta sandwich about a week ago. It was fantastic. But, nothing compares to getting the REAL thing down in New Orleans. YUMMMM Kate

BakingWithoutABox said...

Oooh yum. That looks great. Total Italian muffeletta. Good luck on the contest!

Veronica said...

Love Italian sandwiches and yours looks particularly delicious!

Susi's Kochen und Backen said...

I would love to eat this sandwich as would the rest of my family! Looks delicious and I love the gardiniera vegetables added to the mayo!

Unknown said...

Well now I'm hungry! These look awesome! Nice Job!

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

Looks wonderful! I can totally relate to the hunt for elusive ingredients in this city...it's getting better, but still... You make such fun/interesting foods!

Joyti said...

O delicious! It sounds and looks a little like a muffaletta....

Chef Dennis Littley said...

now that was truly thinking outside the box....it does remind a bit of a muffaletta! I have to say I'm going to be rethinking my sandwich spreads now, Thanks so much for the inspriation!

Kim said...

I'd have to skip the peppers since I'm not too into them but the rest looks delicious. Personally, I've never tried aioli (uhh, did I spell that right?) but I just might now.

Thanks for a new idea!

Jason @ Jason's BBQ Adventures said...

Wonderful flavors in that sandwich! I really enjoy the Italian flavors.

Lisa Faley said...

mmmmmm... that made my mouth water! WOW!
Reminds me of a quick and easy muffeletta sandwich.
YUM!

Santosh Bangar said...

amazing tempting sandwhich.

City Share said...

I love your solution to puree teh vegtables with mayo. Brilliant!