I can’t believe our Italy trip was almost five years ago. It was such a great trip. And the food! I could go on and on for days about the fabulous food we had.
One thing we fell in love with was the Caprese Salad. We had it with dinner on our first night in Rome and never stopped ordering it our entire time in Italy. It was good in Rome, Siena, Pisa, Florence and Venice. Mark even loved it, minus the tomatoes of course. Totally fine as that meant more for me.
Back at home I made the salad often but Mark wanted more. We decided to turn it into a sandwich. Easy enough. It took some experimenting with the bread to get it right for us. We had a new Panini maker to play with, too. Regular bread didn’t taste right and sourdough wasn’t sturdy enough. We decided to try ciabatta rolls; success! Our local grocery store makes it and sells it four to a pack which is the perfect size for us.
It’s simple to assemble and is also flexible since some people in our house won’t touch a tomato. My sandwich consists of a little pesto on the bread with a nice slice of tomato and mozzarella in the middle all topped off with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar reduction.
Press that in the Panini maker for a few minutes and you have an amazing sandwich.
Caprese Sandwich
- ciabatta rolls
- sliced mozzarella
- sliced tomato
- pesto sauce
- balsamic vinegar reduction
- optional items for Mr. Picky: bacon
Slice the rolls. Spread pesto sauce on rolls, as much as you like. Place mozzarella and tomato on bottom slice. Drizzle balsamic on and place top with roll. Press in Panini maker for 5-7 minutes or until toasted to your liking. Drool and enjoy!
Making the balsamic vinegar reduction is easy. Pour whatever amount you’d like into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer to thicken for 10 minutes or until it coats the back of a spoon. Store in an airtight container.