Spiedini Alla Romana
Rating
This dish could be in a museum, it’s so beautiful. But then, just wait until you take your first bite. Oh, you had me at Spiedini all Romana!
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 4 anchovy fillets, drained and coarsely chopped (we like the kind packed in oil, but packed in water works, too)
- ¼ cup white wine
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup nonpareil capers, drained
- 6 large basil leaves, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large loaf rustic-style bread, round or rectangle loaf, not-sliced
- 1 clove garlic, cut in half
- 1 lb fresh mozzarella, sliced into 5 half-inch slices
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 500°F.
- In a medium-sized skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the shallot and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes, until they are lightly browned.
- Add the anchovies and use the back of a fork to rub them into the shallots. Cook for about another 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the wine and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken stock and increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Let cook for 2 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium and add remaining butter, one tablespoon at a time, whisking often, until the sauce thickens a little.
- Stir in the capers, basil and parsley. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cover and remove from heat.
- Cut the ends off of the loaf of bread, and the sides, too, until you have a rectangular loaf of bread. Cut the loaf into 5 or 6¼-inch to ½-inch slices.
- Place the bread slices in the oven directly on the rack and toast them for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven.
- Using the cut side of the garlic, rub it all over both sides of each toasted slice of bread.
- Place one slice of bread on a cutting board and place a slice of the thick-cut mozzarella on the bread. Repeat this process, ending with the last piece of bread.
- Spear the sandwich with a wooden (or metal) skewer and push all the way through so it will hold in place while it bakes.
- Transfer to a shallow baking pan and place in the oven for 16 minutes. Use oven mitts and tongs to rotate the sandwich once every 4 minutes. (Some of the cheese will melt out of the sandwich, but that's okay, just push it back into place with a fork or spoon).
- Transfer the spiedini to a serving platter, remove the skewer, and pour the warm sauce all over it.
- You can cut the spiedini into individual servings, or serve as is, and let guests pull apart their own portion.
