Spicy, sweet, crispy, gooey! This is a sandwich of pure indulgence. The key is to use the best ingredients you can. A good sourdough has just enough holes in the crust to let the warmth of the pan melt the Nduja and the mozzarella but also to let the honey seep through and caramelise with the butter on the top. Fennel adds a sophisticated fragrance, complementing both the Nduja and the honey and making for an unctuously delicious combination.
Ingredients
4 Slices Sourdough Bread – Sliced 1cm thick.
35g Fratelli Beretta Nduja – Half a pack.
125g (drained weight) Mozzarella
2 tsps. Set Honey
½ tsp. Fennel Seeds – ground.
1 tbsp. Regular Olive Oil
20g Butter – 5g per slice of bread.
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
Before you start, remove the Nduja from the fridge to come to room temperature, as this will make it easier to spread and melt.
Pre-heat your oven to 200°C / 180°C Fan.
On two of the slices of sourdough, divide and spread the Nduja covering all the bread.
On the other slices of sourdough, spread over the set honey and then sprinkle over the ground fennel seeds.
Pat dry the mozzarella with some kitchen towel and tear it up into even sized pieces. Divide between the two Nduja spread slices and add a generous grinding of black pepper.
Top the Nduja and mozzarella sandwich halves with the honey and fennel topped halves to close the sandwich and then spread over half the butter onto the top of both.
Take a large, oven proof pan, with a lid, add the oil and place on a low heat.
Add the sandwiches, butter side down and cook for 1 minute with the lid on. The idea is to crisp and caramelise the bottom and let the heat in the closed pan warm through the sandwich to melt the mozzarella and Nduja.
After a minute, remove the lid, and spread the remaining butter onto the top slices of bread before carefully flipping with a spatula to cook the other side, again with the lid on.
After the second minute, flip the sandwich again and put the whole pan in the oven to finish cooking. The oven will help melt everything beautifully without over browning the bottom. You are looking for a golden-brown crust and oozing centre.
Do check the sandwich after a minute and flip again for the last minute if needed. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and serve immediately.
