Italian Mozzarella Melt with Pecan Pesto and Easy Greasy Giveaway

Sandwich Week Day 1

It's Day 1 of Sandwich Week with Creole Contessa, and not only do I plan on creating sandwich goodness all week, starting off with my Italian Mozzarella Melt with Pecan Pesto, I also have another giveaway this week!

photo provided by Easy Greasy

The great people at Easy Greasy are sponsoring this weeks giveaway (entry at bottom of page).  Easy Greasy, Strain & Save Kitchen Colander is an excellent kitchen gadget, that allows you to not only drain hot grease, without pouring it down your sink, it's also a wonderful multipurpose gadget that can be used for straining pasta and makes a wonderful strainer for storing rinsed fruit. I love my Easy Greasy, and use it everyday!

Now for this sandwich...first off, the pesto. I used sun-dried tomatoes soaked in oil, parmigiano reggiano, basil, garlic, spices and my favorite southern twist...pecans...you can toast the pecans if you prefer, but I am not big on toasted nuts, so I prefer to forego toasting my pecans.

And then we have this wonderful bread loaf...allow me to give you a brief background on why I decided to use this Pillsbury®Crusty French Loaf. When I was a child, my eldest sister would always make spaghetti, and she had to prepare at least two loaves of this bread.

 
The bread would always turn out so buttery and soft, with a nice crusty texture on the outside.  I would often forget about the spaghetti and just try to eat all the bread...and yes, in one sitting...this crusty loaf reminds me of childhood, and I knew it would make a wonderful addition to this beautiful sandwich.

Yes....people, I can talk about bread all day. I love bread, like I love cheese, and you know how much I love cheese.  I almost forgot we're making a sandwich. O.K. bread and pesto is ready. Now for the magic. Top half the bread with pesto, as much, or as little as you like.

Top the other half of the bread with sliced mozzarella cheese, now place under the broiler for about 5 minutes, until the cheese bubbles and melts.

Remove from the oven and top with Genoa salami and prosciutto.

Cut the sandwich into four pieces, and enjoy!

Italian Mozzarella Melt with Pecan Pesto and Easy Greasy Giveaway

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 2-4

Ingredients:

  

1 Pillsbury®Crusty French Loaf

1 6 ounce ball of fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

1 cup fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano reggiano

1/2 lb. Genoa salami

8 ounce prosciutto 

1 8 ounce jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
3 garlic cloves

1/4 cup pecans

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon of creole seasoning

1 teaspoon onion powder 
melted butter to baste bread
extra virgin olive oil to thin pesto

Directions: 

Preheat oven to  350 degrees.

Prepare bread according to package directions. Remove from oven when golden brown. Baste with melted butter and set aside. 

To prepare the pesto, in a blender add pecans, parsley, basil leaves, garlic, cheese, seasonings and sun dried tomatoes including the oil from the tomatoes. Blend well. Drizzle in olive oil until desired consistency is reached. I use about 1/4 cup of olive oil. 

Preheat oven to broil.

To prepare sandwich, slice bread in half lengthwise, place on baking sheet, cut size up. 

Spread desired amount of pesto on half of bread loaf. On the other bread loaf add sliced mozzarella cheese, overlapping slices. 

Broil for about 5 minutes are until cheese bubbles. 

Remove from oven. Top sandwich with Genoa salami and prosciutto. Slice sandwich into 4 pieces and enjoy!

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