Toasty Italian Antipasto Melts
These are so gosh darn g-o-o-d (and creativity is welcome). Meats don’t have to be cooked, but we like to give half of ours a quick crisping to add a little crunch. Serve with little bowls of oil for dipping “au jus” style. All you’ll need is in the grocery store deli, salad bar and your pantry for a sandwich worth salivating over!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sliced meats (we used a variety of salamis and ham)
- 2 focaccia breads
- 1 pound melty cheese (we used dilled Havarti)
- 1 package (3-ounce) julienned sun-dried tomatoes (located in produce shelf area)
- Red onion
- Pickled banana peppers
- Black olives
- Greens from bar or deli*
- Oil mixture
- 1¼ cups olive oil
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons garlic paste
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- Crushed black pepper
- Crushed red pepper
Directions
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Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
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Cook half the meat slices in microwave for 2 minutes until crispy and almost burnt.
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Slice breads in half horizontally. Brush cut sides with oil mixture. Place bottoms onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. (If bread is thick, remove some of the “insides” before filling and toast for bread crumbs.)
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Layer with ½ of the cheese and remaining meats. Top with pieces of the oiled tomatoes, bar toppings and greens. Drizzle with a little of the oil and repeat layers using microwaved meats. End with final layer of cheese. Put top of bread on and tent with foil. Bake for 5 minutes, remove tent and bake 5 minutes more.
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Cut and serve while hot with individual cups of the oil for dipping “au jus” style.
*When shopping, we saw a delicious kale apple salad in the deli so that’s what we used! Think outside the box or just use salad bar greens. The apples were great in these spicy sandwiches!
