Finally found foccacia

 

Foccacia before it´s too late

I was in the baker´s yesterday and became very excited when this flat bread that resembles foccacia caught my eye. Sandwiches for supper I thought. Home made paninis or paõzinhos as we call them in Portugal.

I love grilled sandwiches. There's something so comforting about melted cheese, meat, and veggies, salmon or tuna wrapped in a crisp yet tender crusted bread. They are very easy to make, and the only limit on the kinds of sandwiches you can make is your imagination! Every country has its own take on the pressed sandwich and each has its own type of bread to do it with. From Italy we get Foccacia and Ciabatta. From India Rotis and Chapatis.The Mediterranean brings us Turkish Pide, Greek pitta,Lebanese Manoosh, Khoubiz,and from Ethiopia Injera. The list goes ever on. 

Now to make a hot pressed sandwich you could go out and buy a Le Creuset panini pan for upwards of €150, or you could just do what I do .....

Use a cast iron grill pan! Just add the weight of another pan on top and voila! Panini press!

No grill press? No problem!  

Foccacia later

 

My Cubano Tuna Melt

400g (14oz can tuna, drained

1 tablespoon lemon zest

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1 red onion sliced

2 tomatoes sliced

1/2 cup spinach leaves

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 large flat breads

Put the tuna, lemon zest, and onion in a bowl with the mayonnaise and mix until just combined adding more mayo if it needs it. Slice the flat bread in half  horizontally and make a bed of half the spinach leaves on it. Spread the mayonnaise mixture over the leaves followed by a layer of sliced tomatoes.Top with the rest of the spinach leaves and sprinkle the grated cheddar to cover. Put the tops back on the flat bread.  Heat the cast iron pan on medium low for about 3-5 minutes while you assemble the sandwich.

Put enough olive oil (you can use butter or veg. oil) in the pan, let it heat for a minute and gently place the sandwich in the  pan. Weigh down with whatever works for you. I use another cast iron pan and a set of weights, a handy tea kettle filled with water would do the same job.Cook low and slow, checking after about 3 minutes. Flip and repeat.

Eat and enjoy. Feel smug that you made a great sandwich and saved €150 on a panini maker.