Eleanor Steafel’s fried mortadella and mozzarella toastie recipe
Imagine you’re sitting at a little table in an Italian paninoteche. The hiss of the coffee machine rises above the soft sizzle of a panini press being pushed down on a freshly baked roll, generously filled with deli meats and cheese.
We have just the recipe to take you – or at least your taste buds – there. Food writer Eleanor Steafel’s fried mortadella and mozzarella sandwich, which features in her cookbook The Art of Friday Night Dinner, is inspired by Italy’s panini shops, and packs in rich, fragrant, nutty mortadella with stringy melted cheese.
“I love a toastie that forces you to contend with foot-long strings of molten mozzarella every time you take a bite,” says Eleanor, whose debut cookbook is based on her Telegraph column of the same name. “If you need to brace and hold on to the bread to make sure the filling doesn’t all come out in your first bite, something is going right.”
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Ingredients
- 2 panini rolls, sliced in half lengthways
- 4 slices of mortadella
- 6 slices of dry mozzarella (wet mozzarella is fine too, I just find the dry version melts particularly well)
- 1 drizzle of olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 small garlic clove, finely sliced
- 1 tsp runny honey
- 1 pinch flaky salt, to taste
- 2 panini rolls, sliced in half lengthways
- 4 slices of mortadella
- 6 slices of dry mozzarella (wet mozzarella is fine too, I just find the dry version melts particularly well)
- 1 drizzle of olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 small garlic clove, finely sliced
- 1 tsp runny honey
- 1 pinch flaky salt, to taste
- 2 panini rolls, sliced in half lengthways
- 4 slices of mortadella
- 6 slices of dry mozzarella (wet mozzarella is fine too, I just find the dry version melts particularly well)
- 1 drizzle of olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 small garlic clove, finely sliced
- 1 tsp runny honey
- 1 pinch flaky salt, to taste
Details
- Cuisine: Italian-inspired
- Recipe Type: Sandwich
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 5 mins
- Cooking Time: 10 mins
- Serves: 2
Step-by-step
- First, toast your bread, either in a toaster or in a griddle pan if you want more of a char.
- Lay 2 slices of the mortadella on the bottom half of each roll, folding it in so it doesn’t spill out of the bread too much. Arrange equal amounts of the mozzarella on top, then top with the other half of each roll. Squeeze the sandwiches down.
- Set a large frying pan over a medium heat. When the pan is hot, drizzle a little olive oil over each sandwich and sit them – oiled side down – in the pan. Pop a piece of baking paper on top, then sit a heavy pan on top of the sandwiches to flatten them. Fry for 3 minutes, until the cheese is beginning to melt, then remove the pan and paper, drizzle the top sides with a little oil and flip the sandwiches. Cook for another 2 minutes or so, using the paper and pan again.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the honey and swirl the pan so that the honey and butter mix. Take the pan off the heat.
- When the sandwiches are ready, use a pastry brush (or a teaspoon will do) to spread a little hot butter on the bread. Finish with a sprinkle of flaky salt.
- Cut the sandwiches in half and eat messily.
The Art of Friday Night Dinner: Recipes for the best night of the week by Eleanor Steafel. Photography by Sophie Davidson.
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