The Smooth Italian Sandwich

 The Smooth Italian Sandwich 

(By Siphannay Burnes) 

 The Smooth Italian Sandwich 

    Here's an east coast meets west coast sandwich that is not only easy to make, but is addictive! Growing up along the north/east coast of Connecticut, I was exposed to a lot of Italian foods and restaurants. Sandwich places were everywhere and you could almost start a fight declaring your allegiance to one place or the other. 

    I made an Italian sandwich for Robert one afternoon and he asked me if I ever had this with cream cheese. I had not. It didn't even sound like something that would go together, but I won't say no to trying new foods. Robert whipped up a sandwich with the dry salami and added the chive cream cheese. It was magical. I couldn't leave it at just salami and cream cheese though. So we got busy customizing the sandwich. 

    The end result is a creamy, seductive sandwich that has you craving one of these bad boys at 3am in the morning. 

    If you're going to pair this sandwich with something a bit adult, you're going to want a red wine. I don't have a favorite red as of today, but there are a lot of good options out there. I recommend something from Carmel. 

INGREDIENTS

1. Dry, uncured salami; 

2. White flour bread (Unsliced); 

3. Cream cheese (Whole-none of that half-fat or non-fat junk); 

4. Spinach; 

5. Balsamic vinegar; 

6. Olive oil; 

7. Chives; 

8. Olive salad;

9. Tomato on the vine. 

PREPARATION

    Cut the bread at an angle so you get the biggest cut. This also helps avoid those pockets of emptiness that always seem to show up in the loafs. 

    Put the slices of bread together and place this empty sandwich into the toaster oven. Toast the bread until the outside is slightly toasted and the inside is hot. 

    Warm up the cream cheese-not hot. Just warm where it spreads easily. Add the chives and pepper to taste. 

    Thin cut the tomatoes and splash on the balsamic vinegar and the olive oil. Set these bad-boys to the side. 

    Olive salad can be very expensive so we recommend making this from scratch. Here's how: 

    1. Olives of your choice; 

    2. Jarred jalapeños with carrots (Your choice); 

    3. Olive oil (Enough to get the mixture to stick); 

    4. Sugar (to taste); 

    Place all of these ingredients into a mixer and set it to puree. You want this to have some bits so don't go crazy with the machine. Just get it to the point where it looks like it's something that can be spread onto a sandwich. 

    Set this mixture to the side. 

SERVE

    Open up that bread and spread the olive salad on both sides of the bread, followed by the cream cheese. Don't be afraid of the amount. Just go nuts with it. Add the slices of dry salami along with the spinach and the tomatoes. Give it a press to set the sandwich then cut it in half anyway you like to cut sandwiches in half. 

    Serve this sandwich up with a side of Mediterranean salad and that glass of red. Put the napkin over your lap and remember-pinky's out.  

ENJOY THE ADDICTION! 

Robert, Siphannay, Tyler, Aidan, James, and Alexander