“I always think carefully about texture in sandwiches. Here, the red onion contrasts nicely with the roasted pepper, giving it a bit of crunch. It’s really filling, a pleasure to eat, and there aren’t too many elements. When I see a sandwich with 10 or 20 ingredients, it feels like a party where everybody’s talking. I prefer it when the ingredients talk to one another.”
– Federico Riezzo, cafe owner, Dublin
Makes 2 sandwiches (with filling left over for 6 or 7 more)
INGREDIENTS
Sausage mix:
1kg pork and leek sausage meat
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Zest of ¼ an orange
1 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted
3 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp crushed black pepper
2 tsp chilli flakes
Garlic mayonnaise:
180ml mayonnaise
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2½ tbsp lemon juice
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
2 ciabatta buns, halved
2 roasted red peppers, halved
½ red onion, thinly chopped
A generous handful of rocket
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
METHOD
Preheat your oven to 190C. Cover a baking tray with a sheet of foil.
To make the garlic mayo, mix the mayonnaise and crushed garlic in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Toast the fennel seeds for a few minutes until fragrant.
Mix the sausage meat with the onion, garlic, orange zest, toasted fennel seeds, oregano, black pepper and chilli flakes, and combine well. Divide the mix into 8 or 9 balls.
Take a sheet of clingfilm and drizzle a few drops of olive oil over it. Place a ball of the sausage mix on the clingfilm, fold over the sheet and press down to flatten the ball evenly until it is about 1cm thick. (If your ciabatta bun is long and thin, shape the patty accordingly.) Remove the flattened sausage meat from the clingfilm and place on the baking tray. Repeat the process and refrigerate or freeze the rest of the sausage mix.
Place the baking tray in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a grill pan, drizzle some olive oil over the halves of ciabatta and toast them for a couple of minutes on each side.
Remove the garlic mayo from the fridge and spread liberally over the halves of ciabatta. Fill each sandwich with roasted red pepper, rocket, the slices of onion and finally the cooked slabs of sausage meat. Drizzle with olive oil, season if necessary, and close the sandwiches.
Halve each sandwich, cutting at an angle, and serve immediately.