I’m tired of eating bite-sized sandwiches at parties, and they definitely don't have homemade mortadella.
Prep Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
Serves 15-20
INGREDIENTS
Homemade Mortadella
*this recipe is only given in grams to give best results*
850g boneless pork Boston butt, trimmed and cut into small cubes
450g pork back fat, divided
27g Kosher salt
2.5g insta cure #1
4 cups (946ml) water
250g crushed ice, divided (Preferred Brand: Sonic)
3g coriander powder
7 cloves garlic, grated
5g smoked paprika
5g fennel powder
¼ teaspoon (0.25g) sodium erythorbate
5g Tellicherry peppercorns, lightly crushed
60g raw pistachios
85mm collagen casing, soaked in cold water for 2-3 minutes before using
Focaccia
*this recipe is only given in grams to give best results*
2272g 95℉ / 35℃ water
16g instant yeast
64g fine sea salt
3200g Tipo “00” flour (Brand Preference: Anna)
Bench flour
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Flakey salt to taste
Za’atar seasoning, to taste
Guanciale Remoulade
6-ounces (170g) whole guanciale, finely cubed
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon (16g) Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon (10g) lemon juice (about 2 lemon), plus more to taste
2 tablespoons (40g) water
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup (240ml) vegetable oil
1 small shallot, very finely chopped
1 tablespoon thinly sliced chives
1 cornichon, finely chopped
2 teaspoons capers, very finely chopped
Pistachio Pesto
1 cup (100g) raw pistachios
8 cloves garlic
1/3 cup (30g) pecorino cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1 cup (240ml) extra virgin olive oil
Flakey sea salt, to taste
Assembly
3 sheets focaccia
Guanciale remoulade
Homemade mortadella, thinly sliced
8-10 balls burrata
Pistachio pesto
2 pounds Genoa salami, thinly sliced
1 pound Provolone, sliced
1 head iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced
Zest of 1 lemon
INSTRUCTIONS
For The Homemade Mortadella
To a large bowl add the cubes of pork butt. Divide the pork fat in half, 225g per half. Cut one half into rough cubes and add to the bowl with the pork butt.
Grind your pork butt and fat mixture on a rough grind. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes and grind one more time through a fine grinding plate (around 3mm).
To your grind mix, add in kosher salt and insta cure #1. Mix thoroughly by hand, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Cut the remaining half of pork fat into very small ½-inch cubes. Place the fat in a mesh strainer and pour 1 quart of boiling water over it, for about 20 seconds. Allow to cool to room temperature and set to the side.
Preheat a sous vide bath to 140℉ / 60℃.
Place the ground meat in a food processor, you may need to do this in batches, and process for about 1 minute. Add half your ice during that process to keep the meat chilled; the meat must stay under 51℉ / 11℃ so the emulsion doesn’t break. Process another 3 minutes or until the meat becomes an homogenous paste.
Add the remaining half of ice as well as the coriander powder, minced garlic, smoked paprika, fennel powder, and sodium erythorbate. Blend another 1-2 minutes until homogenous.
Remove the mixture to a large bowl set over an ice bath, again it is important the mixture never goes above 51℉ / 11℃. Fold in the blanched pork fat, peppercorns and pistachios.
Add the mixture to a sausage stuffer. Place the soaked casing onto the sausage stuffer and fill the casing with the mortadella farce. Roll the end of the casing to force the mixture together into a thick, tight tube. Tie the open end tightly with kitchen twine to secure it shut. Wrap the mortadella in plastic wrap to ensure no water will get inside.
Place the mortadella in the preheated sous vide bath and cook for 3 hours and 15 minutes. Make sure the mortadella is completely submerged for even cooking, placing a small weight on top of it, if needed, to hold it down in the water.
After cooking the mortadella, remove it to an ice bath to cool completely. Chill in the fridge overnight.
When ready to serve, remove the casing and slice thinly on a deli slicer or with a knife.
For The Focaccia
In a very large bowl whisk the yeast into the warm water until dissolved. Whisk in the sea salt until combined. Alternatively you can divide the ingredients into thirds and make this in three smaller bowls.
Add the flour and mix by hand until it forms a shaggy dough. Using a scooping shape in your hand, scoop the dough up and then slap right back down into the bowl over and over, until your dough begins to smooth out, about 3-4 minutes. This is my preferred method of kneading this style of dough.
Lightly flour a clean work surface and turn the dough out. Pick the dough up, slap it down and quickly fold it over itself. Repeat this process for 2-3 minutes, or until the dough becomes less and less sticky and becomes very smooth. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions.
Spray 3 bowls with cooking spray and add a dough to each bowl. Cover each tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Grease 3 sheet pans, generously with olive oil. You almost want a little bit of a pool of oil in there, somewhere around a ¼ cup-⅓ cup of oil per pan. Scrape your dough into the baking pan and stretch it out as much as possible towards the edges. Cover with plastic wrap and proof at room temperature for 3 hours.
Once there is only 1 hour left in your proof time, preheat your oven to it’s maximum temperature, ideally about 500℉ / 260℃.
After proofing, generously drizzle olive oil on top of your dough and a little in your hands. Rub your hands together and dimple your dough all over the surface. Sprinkle flakey salt and optionally za’atar on top of your focaccia dough. Pop two doughs into the oven for 20-30 minutes or until puffed, gorgeous golden brown on the outside, and just baked through.
Remove and cool in the baking pan for 5 minutes, then immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool completely so the bottom stays crispy. Drizzle the top with more olive oil if you would like.
Repeat cooking the remaining focaccia.
For The Guanciale Remoulade
Heat a 10-inch pan over medium low and add the guanciale. Cook the guanciale, stirring constantly, until the majority of the fat has rendered, and it is browned and crispy, about 10 minutes. Strain the fat into a small bowl, separating the cubes. Refrigerate the fat for another use, it’s delicious. Drain the guanciale cubes on a paper towel. Finely chop the guanciale as much as you can.
In a quart sized container that fits an immersion blender, add the egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice, water, salt, and pepper. Carefully pour the oil on top. Slowly lower the immersion blender into the mixture and while touching the base of the container, blend while slowly raising the blender up until the mayonnaise is completely emulsified and creamy. Pour your mayonnaise into a medium sized bowl.
Stir in the finely chopped guanciale, shallot, chives, cornichons and capers. Season with salt and lemon juice to taste. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
For The Pistachio Pesto
In a food processor blend the pistachios, garlic, cheese and basil until very fine.
Add half the olive oil, scrape down the sides of the food processor and blend again until a touch finer. Blend in the rest of your olive oil until all the ingredients are evenly combined.
Add to a bowl and season to taste with salt as needed. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use. Allow to come up to room temperature before using.
To Assemble
Remove the top third of two pieces of focaccia so that they are perfectly flat. Keep the trimmings for snacks.
To the first piece of focaccia add a quarter of the remoulade to the cut side and spread evenly. Top the remoulade with half of the sliced mortadella. Tear half of the burrata into small pieces and evenly distribute over the mortadella. Top the burrata with some of the pistachio pesto. Top the burrata with half of the salami slices followed by half of the provolone.
In a small bowl toss together the iceberg lettuce and the lemon zest. Add half of the lettuce over top of the provolone.
Lay the second piece of trimmed focaccia on a cutting board. Top the cut side with another quarter of the remoulade and spread evenly. Turn that cut side down on top of the sandwich and spread another quarter of the remoulade on the other side of the focaccia. Repeat the same layers of the sandwich as before, using up the remaining ingredients.
With the last piece of focaccia trim the bottom third to make it perfectly flat. Spread the remaining quarter of remoulade over the cut side and then place on top of the sandwich.
Use skewers to help hold the sandwich together when you cut it into any size you would like.
