Italian sandwich made with homemade focaccia from a fresh-milled and all-purpose flour blend, toasted first, then layered with pesto, mortadella, salami, and pepperoni, all naturally cultured the traditional way, along with torn burrata, tomato, basil, and arugula. An olive oil and red wine vinegar drizzle takes the place of mayo, staying closer to how it's traditionally made. Toasting the focaccia first keeps it from turning soggy under all those layers.
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💡Recipe Overview
- Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes to prep and 5 minutes to broil bread
- Skill Level: Easy
- Who this recipe is for: Anyone who loves a good deli sandwich but wants to make it at home with real, traceable ingredients instead of the deli case.
What is an ancestral diet? Read my post on what nourishing foods are based on the traditional dietary principles of the Weston A. Price Foundation.
Why You Need To Make This Italian Sando
I'm a sucker for a good sandwich. My usual is a #13 at Jersey Mike's, but I'm always trying to figure out how to get that same satisfaction at home with real ingredients instead of deli-case versions.
This one started as a way to use up extra focaccia and I needed a quick grab-and-go lunch to take with us paddleboarding. (Check out my Lunch on the Lake series on Instagram). It was so good and it held up quite well that it's become our regular lake day lunch. When I say, it travels well, it travels well!. Wrapped tight in the cooler and doesn't need any messing around once it's built.
Tomatoes and basil are in season right now, so it's an easy one to keep making while they're actually good. I've made a version of this sandwich three times already this month and it hasn't gotten old yet.
Ingredient Notes
- Bread: homemade focaccia, made with a 50/50 blend of fresh-milled and all-purpose flour. Sourdough or store-bought focaccia works fine if you're not milling flour yet.
- Fats: olive oil, used for brushing the focaccia before toasting and again as a finishing drizzle over the arugula.
- Pesto and garlic: basil pesto (store-bought or try my homemade pesto recipe) as the base layer, with minced garlic stirred in on top rather than blended in.
- Cured meats: mortadella, salami, and pepperoni, thin-sliced. Look for naturally cultured, traditionally cured versions at an Italian deli or farmers market charcuterie vendor.
- Cheese: burrata, torn rather than sliced. Buy it fresh and use it the same day you open it. Fresh mozzarella can be used as a substitute. Slice it thin.
- Produce: sliced tomatoes (ripe, in-season ones make the biggest difference), torn basil leaves, shallot, and whole arugula layered on last.
- Seasoning: red wine vinegar drizzled over the arugula with the finishing olive oil, plus flaky salt and cracked pepper for the tomato and basil layer.
Make it Ancestral
Mortadella, salami, and pepperoni are all traditionally made through natural curing and fermentation, not a modern shortcut. Long before refrigeration existed, this is how Italian and other cultures households preserved meat. Salt, time, and naturally occurring cultures doing the work instead of synthetic preservatives.
That's the same principle behind sourdough or fermented vegetables like sauerkraut, just applied to meat instead of flour or cabbage.
When you're shopping, naturally cultured cured meats will usually say so on the label, or you can ask at a deli counter or Italian market. It's not a new trend, it's just the traditional way this has always been done.
How to Make Italian Sandwich
The printable version is in the recipe card below, ready to go. Keep reading here first though, since these instructions walk through more detail with photos along the way.
Step 1.
Toast the focaccia bread (9x9), split in half horizontally. Drizzle with olive oil and place cut side up under the broiler until the interior is golden and crisp. This matters more with FMF focaccia since the crumb runs wetter.
Step 2.
Spread basil pesto over the bottom half. Layer mortadella, salami, and pepperoni, on one half of the bread.
Step 3.
Tear 1-2 balls burrata, torn over the meats so it settles into the folds rather than sitting flat.
Step 4.
Layer sliced tomatoes and basil leaves torn over the burrata. Add sliced shallot. Season with 1 pinch flaky salt and cracked pepper.
Step 5.
Top with a handful of arugula and sliced shallots, then close the sandwich with the top half of the focaccia. Drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar.
Step 6.
Cut into 4 portions. Wrap tightly.
Helpful Tips
- Toast the focaccia well before building. A quick under the broiler, cut side up, dries out the interior enough to hold up to the pesto and juicy tomatoes without going soft. This is especially important for fresh milled focaccia.
- Tear the burrata instead of slicing it. Tearing lets it settle into the gaps between the meats rather than sitting as one flat layer, which gives you a better cross-section when you cut the sandwich.
- Add the shallot and arugula last. Both wilt or lose their bite if they sit under the weight of the other ingredients too long before serving.
- Wrap and press before cutting. Wrapping the sandwich tightly for a few minutes before slicing helps everything set so the layers don't slide apart when you cut it.
Serving Suggestions
Traditionally, this sandwich is a meal on its own, no sides needed. For a lake or pool day, round it out with something acidic and something crunchy.
- For a bigger spread: raw veggies with Greek yogurt ranch work well as a simple side.
- Drinks: a yogurt drink, kompot (homemade fruit juice), honey lemonade, or sparkling mineral water like Gerolsteiner is delicious.
- Snacks: fermented carrots or fermented dill pickles add crunch and gut-friendly probiotics (and IMHO should be a side to all meals).
Frequently Asked Questions
Wrap it tightly in parchment or foil and refrigerate for up to 2 days if it's already assembled. The fresh produce and burrata start to break down after that, so it's best eaten within that window. If you want it to keep longer, store the components separately, focaccia at room temperature, meats and cheese in the fridge, and build the sandwich fresh when you're ready to eat it.
Focaccia made with fresh-milled flour holds more moisture in the crumb than an all-purpose-only version, so it needs a longer stint under the broiler to dry out before you build the sandwich. Get it a little toasty.
Looking for more related recipes? Here are some ideas:
Did you make this Italian Sando? Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ recipe rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comments. Thank you!💚
Printable Recipe
Italian Focaccia Sandwich
Ingredients
- 1 focaccia 9x9, split in half horizontally
- ⅓ cups basil pesto
- 6 ounces mortadella thin sliced
- 4 ounces dry salami thin sliced
- 3 ounces pepperoni thin sliced
- 2 balls burrata torn
- 2 medium tomatoes sliced
- 1 shallot
- ¼ cup basil leaves torn
- 2 cups arugula
- 3 tablespoons olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 1 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 pinch flaky salt and cracked pepper
Instructions
- Toast the 1 focaccia (9x9), split in half horizontally. Drizzle with olive oil and place cut side up under the broiler until the interior is golden and crisp. This matters more with FMF focaccia since the crumb runs wetter.
- Spread basil pesto over the bottom half.
- Layer mortadella, salami, pepperoni, on one half of the bread. Tear 2 balls burrata, torn over the meats so it settles into the folds rather than sitting flat.
- Layer sliced tomatoes and basil leaves torn over the burrata. Season with 1 pinch flaky salt and cracked pepper.
- Top with 2 cups arugula and sliced shallots, then close the sandwich with the top half of the focaccia. Drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar. Cut into 4 portions. Wrap tightly.
Video
Notes
- Toast the focaccia well before building. A quick under the broiler, cut side up, dries out the interior enough to hold up to the pesto and juicy tomatoes without going soft. This is especially important for fresh milled focaccia.
- Tear the burrata instead of slicing it. Tearing lets it settle into the gaps between the meats rather than sitting as one flat layer, which gives you a better cross-section when you cut the sandwich.
- Add the shallot and arugula last. Both wilt or lose their bite if they sit under the weight of the other ingredients too long before serving.
- Wrap and press before cutting. Wrapping the sandwich tightly for a few minutes before slicing helps everything set so the layers don't slide apart when you cut it.
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