This versatile, unique sandwich can be served as an antipasti or as a main course. It’s great to prepare a day ahead and serve on a Sunday when you’re watching football with friends.
Pan bagnat literally means “bathed bread” in French, referring to the moistening of the bread with the olive oil and juices from the other ingredients. The beauty of this sandwich is that the olive oil and bread combine with the other ingredients to provide the same flavor sensation as when you dunk your bread into a dish to sop up the juice or dressing. Italians even have a name for sopping up a sauce with bread: scarpetta.
Go ahead and have fun making this – you can use any ingredients you want in it! For example, you can add sundried tomatoes, blue cheese, bacon or whatever you have leftover in your fridge. Feel free to get creative making it your own uniquely delicious pan bagnat.
Italian-style pan bagnat sandwich
Ingredients
- 1 loaf artisan bread (we use Iggy's Francese bread)
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
- 4 Tbsp. basil pesto
- 1/2 cup pitted olives, chopped into small pieces
- 1 medium-sized eggplant
- 2 red peppers (or 1 jar of roasted red peppers)
- 3 stalks broccolini
- 2 large tomatoes, sliced into ½" thick rounds (we prefer beef steak tomatoes)
- 2 balls fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into ¼" thick rounds
- 20 thinly sliced rounds of dried, cured Italian salami (we like Gusto's, as its hormone and antibiotic free)
- 10 slices genoa salami (we like Citterio)
- 8 slices mortadella, preferably with pistachios (we like Boar's Head)
Instructions
- Generously moisten each side of bread with olive oil and basil pesto.
- Peel off the skin of the eggplant and slice into ¼” thick rounds. Lightly season with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill or pan sear to cook.
- Peel skin from Italian sausage and slice as thin as possible. Slice olives, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese as prescribed.
- Char the skins of the red peppers by placing them over a gas stove and turning as each side becomes charred. Place peppers into a paper bag for a few minutes. Peel the skin from the peppers and cut them into strips. Mix the peppers with red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
- Drop broccolini into boiling water and cook for 2-2.5 minutes. Grill to char (optional). Cut into smaller-sized pieces.
- To make sandwich, layer all ingredients on top of one another.
- Wrap whole sandwich with plastic wrap. To compress sandwich, place a heavy cutting board or cans from your pantry on top of the sandwich (about 1 ½-2 lbs of weight). Press the sandwich overnight. Cut into desired segment sizes to serve.
