Cheesy Italian Charcuterie Sandwich

There’s this little Italian shop in Corvallis that W and I love so much.  Most people go there for the lovely Italian sandwiches.  We mostly go there for the meats, cheese, and wine.  The gentleman-owner seems to slice his cuts thinner and nicer than any other place in town.  And he knows his stuff too.  And the place just makes me want to step on over to Italy. Right now.

Now that I only get to Corvallis a couple times a month, it seems important somehow to try to stop by when I’m in town.  Though we’ve tried a variety of meats, we tend to always go back for the same ones.  A recent jaunt led us to this amazing creation.  One that though completely unplanned until the instant those ingredients were smacked on the bread, will go down as one of the best.

Though something about the bread may have added to the intrigue.  I was supposed to post about the December Daring Bakers Challenge last month.  But a month of traveling and work and planning for other life changes led me to be a bit behind on the sourdough challenge.  So when I finally did get around to it, I made a Rice, Flax, and Brazil Nut recipe that just didn’t have enough activity for me.  (Wild yeasty sourdough activity, that is).  And while I’d like to say it was the obscure ingredients, this time I think it might be that that particular cookbook just doesn’t work for me.  I own a copy and have tried multiple recipes with and without various sourdough starters.  I’ve never met with success.  And so when I saw the challenge recipe source, I really did groan as I just knew I was doomed for failure.  As such, the bread never did rise, really.  But it sure tasted good.  Not like the brick it looked like.  But real flavor that was a real match for the lovely ingredients that topped it off.  So while I won’t recommend you try this particular bread recipe, do have a go at the ingredients on top, with or without a sourdough bread.

Our Daring Bakers Host for December 2011 was Jessica of My Recipe Project and she showed us how fun it is to create sourdough bread in our own kitchens! She provided us with sourdough recipes from Bread Matters by Andrew Whitley as well as delicious recipes to use our Sourdough bread in, from Tonia George’s Things on Toast and Canteen’s Great British Food!

Cheesy Italian Charcuterie Sandwich

good quality bread

3-4 thin slices good quality salami

3-4 thin slices good quality pepperone

1-2 thin slices medium or sharp cheddar cheese

1-2 thin slices good quality mozzarella cheese

4-5 kalamata olives, sliced

1-2 brown muchrooms, sliced

Sliced yellow bell pepper

handful fresh spinach leaves

 

• Turn oven to broil.
• Toast bread until slightly dry.
• Layer on meats, mushrooms, pepper, olives and cheeses.  Pile spinach on top.
• Place in the oven on broil for 2-3 minutes.  You want the cheese to sizzle and pop and the spinach leaves to start to charcoal.
• Take out of the oven and enjoy!