One of my favorite Italian sandwiches filled with mortadella and stracciatella cheese. Everything is stacked inside a thick piece of focaccia bread.
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Back when I went to culinary school in Italy, I was able to visit Florence and eat the most amazing sandwich from All'Antico Vinaio.
To date, it's one of my all-time favorite sandwiches I've ever eaten! It was made with schiacciata (a thinner focaccia from the Tuscany region) along with mortadella, stracciatella cheese, and pistachio cream.
I knew once I got home that I had to figure out how to recreate a version of this amazing sandwich. This recipe includes a few of my own twists, along with homemade focaccia and pistachio pesto.
I can't wait for you to try this...and hopefully travel to Italy to try the original version too!
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What You'll Learn In This Recipe
- How to make homemade Italian focaccia and pistachio pesto - it gives the sandwich an incredible flavor!
- Some of my favorite Italian ingredients like mortadella and stracciatella.
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Ingredients You Need
These are some of my favorite Italian inspired ingredients, especially when paired together on a sandwich.
- Focaccia sandwich bread: Make your own focaccia, or buy one at the store that you enjoy.
- Pistachio pesto: I'd recommend keeping the pesto a thick consistency so it stays on the bread.
- Stracciatella cheese: This type of cheese is made by ripping mozzarella into thin strands and mixing with fresh cream.
- Pistachios: These add a nice bite of crunch to the sandwich.
- Mortadella: A salty and delicious sausage that's flavored from pork fat.
- Arugula: I prefer the peppery bite of arugula, but you could also substitute for spinach.
How To Make This Recipe
Here's a quick step-by-step guide for making this mortadella sandwich.
1. Spread pistachio pesto on the bottom half of bread and stracciatella cheese on the top half.
2. Sprinkle chopped pistachios on top of the stracciatella cheese.
3. Place mortadella on top of the pesto, followed by arugula.
4. Finally, place the top half of the bread.
Expert Tips
- Try warming the bread: Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place focaccia slices on top. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes until warmed through and crunchy on the outside.
- Can't find stracciatella cheese? The inside of burrata cheese is actually stracciatella cheese, so you can either scoop out the inside of burrata or just use the whole ball!
Recipe FAQs
Sure! You could use ciabatta, traditional schiacciata, or even butter BIGA rolls.
I would only suggest making the sandwich an hour or so ahead of time. The pesto and stracciatella cheese will make the bread become soggy if it sits for too long.
You could, but Italians like to use simple, in-season ingredients to give their food amazing flavor. Adding too many different condiments or toppings might take away from the intended flavor.
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Mortadella & Stracciatella Focaccia Sandwich
Ingredients
- 1 slice focaccia sandwich bread
- 3 tablespoons pistachio pesto
- ¼ cup stracciatella cheese
- 1 tablespoon shelled, roasted pistachios finely chopped
- 2 ounces mortadella (about 6 slices)
- ½ cup arugula
Instructions
- Spread pistachio pesto on the bottom half of focaccia bread and stracciatella cheese on the top half.
- Sprinkle chopped pistachios on top of the stracciatella cheese.
- Place mortadella on top of the pesto, followed by arugula, then the top half of the bread.
Joseph
This sandwich was so good and I loved bringing it with me to work to make all my coworkers jealous!