Everybody loves a good Italian saaangwich. I crave them all the time! This is more of an Italian American version because of the shredded iceberg lettuce (which I love). I also pickled my own Melrose peppers and I used them to replace pepperoncini. You can get the recipe for pickled Melrose peppers here. You’ll need really great crusty Italian bread for this sandwich as well as good quality mortadella and ricotta. If you want to go all out homemade, you can use my homemade mortadella recipe and homemade ricotta recipe also (click the red links)!
Ingredients:
- Italian bread, sliced
- Mortadella as needed
- Ricotta as needed
- 1 head of iceberg lettuce, shredded
- Pickled Melrose peppers as needed (any peppers are fine if you can’t get Melrose peppers)
- Olive oil as needed
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper as needed
For the dressing:
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 small shallot, diced
- 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup olive oil
Process:
- Turn your oven broiler to high.
- Make the dressing by whisking together the vinegar and olive oil, add garlic, shallot, herbs and spices and whisk to combine. Drizzle over shredded lettuce in a bowl and toss. Set aside.
- When the broiler is hot, place the bread inside and toast until golden brown.
- Remove bread from oven and spread ricotta on the inside like butter. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Next, add a generous layer of sliced mortadella followed by the dressed, shredded lettuce. Garnish with pickled peppers.
- Enjoy this sandwich with a cold beer!