Today, I present the latest of my culinary endeavors: the vegetarian sandwich with red radicchio. A complex masterpiece, the result of years and years of hard manual and intellectual work, the main dish of many of my lunches, dinners, breaks, and even packed meals for my children’s scout outings. 😎
〰 〰 〰
Exactly like that, with the three lines you just read, began the introduction of this historic recipe, originally published on this blog on December 9, 2014. Now I am about to update it after more than a decade of honorable service. 😍
Many things have changed over the years. First of all: I now regularly bake my own bread and almost never buy it anymore, because I much prefer the homemade version.
I was waiting for the right occasion to update the recipe, as the old photos (which I won’t delete but will leave at the end) no longer adequately represent our current sandwiches, almost all made with my homemade bread, leavened with sourdough.
Here it is, an example of our current vegetarian sandwich with red radicchio: 😊
Below, I leave unchanged the introduction I wrote for the first draft of the recipe. An introduction that still represents us, including the irony. 😅 Everything is still current… ehm, except that we are all 10 years older! The “kids” are no longer kids, and the sandwiches for scout outings have been replaced with sandwiches for Flavia’s work lunch break, or for Fabrizio’s Sunday karting. Ehh c’est la vie!
〰 〰 〰
« I can assure you that making a good sandwich while excluding the legendary ham, or the legendary mortadella, and making it delicious, so delicious that someone says, “can you make me another?”… well, it requires a certain experience! And it can lead to high levels of satisfaction!
And in the end, one feels both skilled and imaginative, in addition to… ahaha, a compulsive consumer of one’s own creation!!
Yes, that’s how it is, I couldn’t not tackle the topic of “sandwiches” in my blog. Because now, after long years of experimentation and various variations on the theme, I can officially declare that I’ve reached a certain gastronomic level in this difficult art! 😀
The art of sandwich making was widely practiced by my husband at the time we met, and for several years was also overused to be honest! Back then, sandwiches were his most repeated recipe, also because it was the only one he knew how to cook, besides the recipe for café au lait and the well-tested recipe of buying pizzas!
And it was the least modified recipe: thousands of identical sandwiches, made with cooked or raw ham, cheese, predominantly Emmental, and mayonnaise. That’s it.
Enough, that era has ended! The limited use of meat in our diet has naturally cut down on cured meats, consequently, now sandwiches with ham are rare in our home and are mostly reserved for the children’s packed lunches for scout outings. And my husband likes these vegetarian sandwiches, and always asks for seconds! (And those are satisfactions 😀).
The vegetarian sandwich I present to you today features my beloved red radicchio, could it be otherwise?
It’s a very simple sandwich, of course, but no less good for that. You can trust us; we know a thing or two about sandwiches! 😀 »
〰 〰 〰
Other types of bread to use for this vegetarian sandwich:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2 sandwiches
- Cooking methods: No cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
👉 I don’t indicate weights because this is a sandwich made with feeling 😊 and the filling can be adjusted according to the size of the bread and personal tastes (do you like it lightly or heavily filled?).
- rustic bread
- red radicchio
- red onion
- spreadable cheese (or ricotta)
- caciotta cheese (or another cheese of choice)
- olives
- pepper
- mustard (optional)
- mayonnaise (optional)
Tools
- Knife
- Cutting board
Steps
You can use your preferred bread, preferably rustic.
Today, I specifically made two small loaves following the same recipe I used for Garlic Bread.
Here is the recipe: Leavened Bread Loaves with Licoli
First, wash the radicchio and cut it into strips, then slice the onion.
Slice the bread.
Spread fresh cheese (or ricotta) on one slice.
Spread a thin layer of mustard and mayonnaise on the other slice.
👉 Both mustard and mayonnaise are optional; the sandwich is excellent without the sauces. Particularly mayonnaise should be used sparingly, as it can overpower other flavors.
Add the radicchio, onion, olives (black or green, as you prefer), and caciotta cheese.
👉 Instead of caciotta, any other cheese like Emmental or Fontina is fine. In the first version, I used a Calabrian caciotta, which I found in both sweet and smoked versions; it was excellent, and I hope to buy it again someday!
👉 If you decide not to use mayonnaise and mustard, I recommend seasoning the radicchio with oil and vinegar.
Finish with a sprinkle of pepper.
And enjoy your sandwich!
And here are the photos from the previous version of the recipe, I leave them here (despite being “monsters” 🤭 as we call old, ugly photos in food blogging jargon 😀), but they represented this recipe for a long time, their place is here!
Salt-Free Tips
Excluding mustard and mayonnaise, and making the bread at home (and also making the spreadable cheese at home), the only salt-containing ingredients in this sandwich are the cheese and olives. Oh, and you can also make the mayonnaise at home, to enjoy salt-free mayonnaise that the market does not offer us! Hooray for homemade production!
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Decrease the salt gradually, the palate needs to get used to it slowly and should not notice the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, nuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruits. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my salt-free vegetable granules and gomasio.
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water, prefer cooking methods that do not dilute flavors (grill, foil, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Occasionally allow a break from the rule. It’s good for morale and encourages perseverance.
If you do not want, or cannot, give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes by salting according to your habits.
Follow Me!
On my WhatsApp channel and on Instagram, on the Facebook page, on Pinterest, and in my two groups: Catia’s group, in the kitchen and beyond and Exactly what I was looking for! and if you like… subscribe to my Newsletter.
