Citrusy Pane Cunzato
Similar to the delightful Cake Vinaigrette in Natasha Pickowicz’s More Than (Olive Oil) Cake cooklet, pane cunzato is a dressed bread, a salad sandwich, the perfect projection of the oil-vinegar-bread triplet into the greater sandwich space. An ideal sandwich to make while traveling (not many tools needed), and as the flavors marinate it will get better and better over a day. We ate one fresh and one many hours after making it, and the older one was definitely a more enjoyable experience.
by Emily Eisen and Nestor Grace of Rest Stop
½ of a loaf of a rustic batard, or something similar- best if a few days old, or if fresh “artificially staled” (aka toasted!)
Approximately 5 anchovies, or more/less to your liking
Approximately 10 black pitted olives
3 cloves of garlic, grated
¾ lb of a hard mild sheep’s cheese (Toma, Manchego, pecorino, etc. )
A few handfuls of a green salad mix, or arugula (whatever you have on hand), cleaned + dried
Herbs: leaves of fresh oregano, thyme, dill fronds, or any other potent herb around
1 orange, zested and peeled/ sliced horizontally
While this provides a recipe for a pane cunzato, as long as you have good bread and oil, this is a perfect vector for adaptations, modifications and bastardizations of innumerable forms, let the cheeses, herbs, and vegetables around you dictate what the best combination might look like.
Instructions
Active Time: 25 minutes
Full Time: 50 minutes
Overall pane cunzato calls for soaking up a significant sopping of oil, soiling your bread with herbs anchovies and olives, and garnishing it with cheese or whatever else is on hand. This soiling, sopping and garnishing can take innumerable forms, but this is how we conducted ours.... Step 1: Slice a the bread (½ a loaf) in half lengthways, leave to get stale, or toast if necessary.
Once it is dry and hard to the touch, pour about ⅓ cup of Drizzle onto a plate or shallow bowl, leave bread cut side down in oil to soak until it has visibly permeated the bread (about 15 minutes), the oil should reach at least half of the thickness of each slice or bread.
While the bread is soaking, rough chop the olives and anchovies, add the grated zest of 1 orange and grated garlic to the mix.
Roughly chop your herbs, and mix into the citrus-anchovy-olive-garlic triumvirate.
Despite the salt in the anchovies, this is a good time to season and taste the mix.
At this point your bread should have soaked up a nice amount of oil, press down on the bread like a sponge to soak up anything remaining.
Now you are ready to assemble your sandwich! Spread the seasoning mix (the citrus-anchovy-olive-garlic mash) onto one side of the bread, add on the slices of orange, and then the fresh leaves, add a generous covering of cheese slices.
Press down on the bread until juices start flowing, to spreading the seasoned oils through the sandwich.
Slice, serve, stuff faces.
