When planning the menu for my son’s first birthday I wanted to have plenty of easy adult friendly and kid friendly food. Sandwiches were the best bet in my book.
I saw this great pin via Pinterest and wanted to give making Italian Pressed Sandwiches a shot for the more adult friendly food (although, the kids ate it up too!) These sandwiches are great for mixing and matching things that you love. **READ MORE FOR RECIPE**
Makes approximately 24 1 inch by 2 inch sandwiches
- Ciabatta bread: I used one very large loaf, but you can get small rolls instead if you desire, probably 6 small rolls would work
- Italian Dressing: Any kind of Italian salad dressing will work. I use my favorite, Newman’s Own Family Recipe Italian Salad Dressing.
- Pesto: You can buy some or make your own! I made my own by processing pine nuts, olive oil and basil in my food processor. I made approximately 1 cup.
- Fresh Basil leaves about 24-30 leaves
- Roasted Red Peppers: 1 jar works
- Three types of Italian cured meats. I used pepperoni and two styles of salami. I bought one package of each and used enough to cover a layer.
- Provolone Cheese: 1 package of sliced cheese
- Pepperocini: Again, you can use whatever your local market has… I used Mezzetta Deli-Sliced Golden Greek Peperoncini Peppers
- Toothpicks
- Heavy Books, bricks covered in foil, or a cast iron pan
- Slice the ciabatta bread in half
- Spread Italian Dressing on one of the two halves of bread
- Spread Pesto on the other half
- Put a layer of provolone cheese on the half of bread that has the pesto. Build your sandwich from there.
- Layer on top of it a layer of pepperoni
- Layer on top of it a layer of salami
- Layer another layer of salami
- Layer on Basil Leaves
- Layer on red peppers
- Top with the Italian Dressing side
- Press sandwiches by putting a heavy object on top of the sandwich! I like to put a layer of wax paper on top of the sandwiches just to keep the food safe. Keep sandwiches pressed for about 30 minutes.
- Cut Sandwiches into 1 inch by 2 inch rectangles
- Top each sandwich with a pepperocini by spearing the pepper and sandwich with a toothpick
*Photos by Motormouth Studio
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