‹ The Sandwich 100 › Make it at home

The Sandwich 100 · make it at home

Mortadella sandwich, three ways (Rome, Bologna, São Paulo)

15 min · 2 sandwiches

One great cold cut, three cities: Rome stuffs it into hot pizza bianca, Bologna lays it thin with soft squacquerone cheese, São Paulo piles 300 grams of it, griddled, with melted provolone. Start with mortadella sliced paper thin from the counter.

Save it and it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place, what you already have and a shopping list.

The real one

You need

• 250 g (9 oz) mortadella di Bologna, sliced paper thin (for São Paulo style, 300 g sliced a little thicker)
• For Rome: 1 piece pizza bianca or focaccia, about 20 x 12 cm, warm
• For Bologna: 2 crusty rolls (rosetta or ciabatta), 4 tbsp squacquerone or stracchino
• For São Paulo: 2 French rolls, 4 slices provolone, 1 tbsp butter
• Optional: a few pistachios, chopped, or a little arugula

How to make it

1. Rome (5 min): Warm the pizza bianca 4 minutes in a hot oven, split it horizontally, and fold in the mortadella in loose waves. Close and eat while the bread is warm and the fat just starts to melt.
2. Bologna (3 min): Split the rolls, spread the squacquerone thickly on the bottom, and fold the mortadella on top in loose layers. Nothing else.
3. São Paulo, griddle (4 min): Heat a skillet over medium. Fold the mortadella into two thick piles and warm them in the pan, turning, until the edges brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Lay the provolone on top, splash a spoon of water beside and cover 1 minute until it melts.
4. São Paulo, build (2 min): Butter and toast the split rolls cut side down. Slide each pile of mortadella and cheese into a roll.
5. Serve: With a glass of Lambrusco (Bologna), a beer (São Paulo) or a coffee standing at the counter (Rome).

Tips

• Fold, don't stack flat: loose waves are what make it feel generous.
• Ask for mortadella IGP from Bologna for the Italian versions.

Chef Amazing's own home version, in our words; not any shop's recipe.