PUTTANESCA SANDWICH!

When Mezzetta Company held their "Make That Sandwich" recipe contest, I jumped at the opportunity to submit my fantastic Puttanesca sandwich. Unfortunately, it was not chosen as winner, but in my world, this one has winner written all over every bite.

Contest rules disallowed publishing the recipe prior to the contest end, so I never got around to posting it here on S365. Now that fresh herbs and veggies are becoming plentiful again, this is a good time to revisit the Puttanesca.

A lot of thought went into this delicious satisfyer, and if you're a lover of savory, fresh Italian flavors and ingredients, making it will be worth the effort. One small change has been made to the recipe, so these photos will differ slightly from your end result. Now it's even better.

Part of the recipe challenge was to use as many Mezzetta products on your sandwich entry as possible. I must admit it, they do make products that are superior to others on the market. On the other hand, if you have a preference for another brand, go for it.

Mayo Spread Ingredients: 1 cup mayo - 2 tsp granulated garlic - 4 tsp anchovy paste - 1/4 cup capers - - Mix ingredients together in a mini-chop or blender and refrigerate until you build sandwiches - - Veggie Chop Ingredients: 1/3 cup Calamata Olives, diced - 1 1/2 cups fresh tomato, diced - 1/3 cup red onion, diced - 1/4 cup pimento, diced - -mix all diced veggie together in a bowl and let sit for about 15 minutes to allow flavors to marry - Bread, Meat Cheese & Lettuce: 6 to 8 pieces fresh Parmesan cheese, shaved - 4 slices rotisserie chicken breasts - 2 leafs romaine lettuce - 2 ciabatta rolls with bottom slices hallowed leaving 1/4 inch bread - - Herb Mix: 1/4 fresh basil - 1/4 cup fresh parsley - 2 tbls fresh oregano, all chopped - -

Build your sandwich: Spread the mayo mix into the hallowed out ciabatta bread, place lettuce atop the spread, then sliced chicken breast, then veggie chop. Leave the sandwich open for plating beside the freshly chopped herb mix allowing each individual to use the herbs to taste.

Putta Whatsca?

We have here a Puttanesca Sandwich. Adapted from the classical Italian pasta dish, "Pasta Puttanesca". Working within the Mezzetta Make That Sandwich Contest rules, we used some Mezzetta products in the sandwich, some of which are featured in the above photo. More importantly, the sandwich itself is pictured above. Take a good long look at it.

Can you take a stab at what ingredients were used to make the sandwich? I can tell you, it is one of the most delicious and exciting sandwiches I have ever tasted. Unfortunately, the folks at Mezzetta didn't see it that way, ours was not the winning sandwich. We tried hard to stay within the guidelines provided, so were careful not to make the sandwich too complicated to make. Only to find out the winning sandwich was indeed very complicated with multiple steps necessary to bring it all together. If you want to see the winning sandwich, go visit Mezzetta on the web, I'm sure it's up there.

In the meantime, give a guess as to what ingredients are on the sandwich and if you come close, you can have lunch on Le Gourou. Good Luck