Today on The Stay At Home Chef
I'm showing you how to make
Pressed Italian Picnic Sandwiches
These sandwiches are packed full of flavor and
are perfect for any time you need an impressive sandwich
like baby showers, brunch, or an actual real live picnic
We're going to start by making a pesto spread
Start by placing 2 cups of fresh basil leaves into a food processor
Add in 3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of nuts
traditionally pesto is made with pine nuts but those are freakin' expensive!
So I like to use whatever I have on hand
whether that is almond, pecans, or walnuts
It totally works
1/3 cup of olive oil
and 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
Put the lid on and blend it until it's smooth
Alright we'll let that set aside for a second and work on our bread
You'll need a loaf or two of focaccia
You can find this in a well stocked bakery or you can make your own at home
I have a great recipe for it, I'll make sure I give it to you
It is super easy I promise
You're going to want to slice it in half lengthwise
so that you have one giant sandwich
and I'm going to spread the pesto directly on the top half
Just spread it in a nice even layer and cover all of the bread
Set that top piece aside and we'll work on our bottom half
where we're going to start building layers of flavor
Start with a layer of deli sliced chicken or turkey breast
and I use about 1 pound of meat here
Top that with a layer of sliced salami
and for this I use a half pound
Our tasty Italian toppings go on top of the meat
We have chopped pepperoncinis
scatter those out
some sliced olives
chopped sun-dried tomatoes
and then chopped roasted red bell pepper
Finish this bad boy with a layer of sliced fresh mozzarella cheese
I use about 16 ounces to cover this
Then place your top piece back on
Next comes the pressed part of this picnic sandwich
We're going to wrap our entire sandwich
really tightly with plastic wrap
And then put it on our tray
It's kind of tricky to start getting it going
Tuck in any toppings that start falling out
Once I get an initial layer going I'll flip it over and do the other side
and make sure everything gets covered
and it's all wrapped nice and tight
It's these final layers where you can pull it really tight
This giant wrapped sandwich goes directly onto a baking sheet
and then top it off with another baking sheet
This will hold our weights that we're going to use to press the sandwich
and I am using giant cookbooks
We'll weight them down here
You could use hand weights or any heavy stuff you have laying around the house
Now this is going to go into the fridge
weights and all for at least 12 hours
After 12 hours unwrap your sandwich and slice it into single servings
This is one killer sandwich!
You can find the full written recipe in the video description
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See you later!