Sandwich 101

Sandwiches are the ultimate fast food-and an easy gourmet meal. Here are some guidelines to make extra-ordinary sandwiches:

Start with the highest-quality ingredients. The freshest bread, deli cold cuts and cheeses, gourmet condiments and toppings will really make a difference in how your sandwich tastes.

Have all your ingredients in front of you and ready to go. Moisten both sides of the bread with your preferred spread. Consider customizing packaged mayo or mustard by adding finely chopped ingredients to taste such as herbs, olives, capers, roasted garlic, roasted red bell peppers, jalapeños, peperoncinis, herb or spice blends.

For hot sandwiches, create your own compound butter by mixing any the above ingredients with softened butter.

Thinly sliced ingredients will let you layer on the flavor. Use a very sharp knife or cheese plane to achieve those perfect skinny slices. Use a serrated knife to slice tomatoes. For extra convenience, choose products that are pre-sliced, such as Mezzetta Deli-Sliced peppers.

Take a little extra time as you build your sandwich to situate each ingredient carefully. Trim ingredients as needed to make a neat package. It may be tempting to pile it on, but you don't want all your tasty ingredients spilling out when you take a bite.

When serving a hot sandwich, always let it set a minute or two before slicing to avoid a squishy mess. Especially true for grilled cheese!

Toppings are essential for adding flavor. Use spicier or hotter toppings with milder products such as turkey, eggs, tuna and chicken to pump up the flavor factor. Highly seasoned ingredients, such as many Italian cold cuts or hot sausages, are enhanced by milder toppings such as roasted red peppers or sliced olives.

Bread: Your choices are practically endless and can include croissants, foccacia, sliced French bread, pita bread, ciabatta bread, sandwich wraps, rolls, etc. Be sure you select a type of bread which will stand up to the planned filling, in other words, match the texture of the filling with the bread. For example, a soft egg salad matches well with a fresh, delicate croissant.

Fillings: Just about anything you can put on a plate, you can use in a sandwich. This includes traditional cold cuts, cooked or grilled meats such as beef, chicken, duck, lamb, pork or turkey and vegetarian selections such as tofu, vegetables, "veggie" style burger patties, falafel and the like. Don't forget seafood or eggs!

Cheese: For some, it isn't a sandwich unless it has cheese. Hot or cold, classic cheese choices include Cheddar, Swiss, Muenster, Provolone, Monterrey Jack, and Mozzarella but consider other varieties such as blue, Fontina, goat cheese, feta, smoked Gouda, Manchego and Mexican-style cheeses.

Condiments: Think mustard, mayo, barbeque sauce, horseradish, salsa, chutney, oil and vinegar, or tapenade. Follow the links to these great Mezzetta product lines for condiment ideas: Kona Coast, Gourmet Specialties, Napa Valley Bistro.

Toppings: Of course, consider lettuce or other greens, tomatoes, onions, pickles, grilled vegetables...but...this is where you can really go to town with Mezzetta. Look at our Deli Sliced lines for terrific toppers or at any of our Mezzetta Brand products for inspiration.