Tomato Tomatoe

Panuozzo sandwich

I’ve been seeing pizza sandwiches all over social media. A pizza sandwich is basically pizza dough turned into a sandwich. It’s crunchy, light, airy and is the perfect vessel for holding sandwich ingredients. It’s pretty simple, you stretch out your pizza dough as you normally would but instead of adding sauce, toppings. etc., you brush olive oil to the entire surface of the dough, fold it over and brush the top of the dough with olive oil. You then bake it in the oven either on a pizza stone or on a pizza pan and you are left with an airy delicious dough. Once I tried this pizza sandwich, I was hooked. You can really add any ingredients inside that you like. For this one I added homemade pesto, pan seared chicken breast, pickled onions, heirloom tomato and burrata cheese. This combination hit every note and in my opinion was the perfect sandwich.

You can get really creative with these and I’m really tempted to do a series on these sandwiches because they’re just that good! My pizza dough recipe is super simple and the taste is incredible. I’ve tried making pizza dough with my sourdough starter but found that this method was always a bit of a gamble. The dough never came out well because the starter didn’t seem to be as active as I needed it to be. Making pizza dough with dry yeast is a great alternative to sourdough starter and the dough turns out perfect every time.

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panuozzo sandwich

Ingredients – Pizza Dough

• 1000 g or 7 3/4 cups ’00 flour
• 700 g or 3 cups water, between 90-95 degrees F
• 20 g or 1 tbsp + 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 0.8 g or 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast

Ingredients – Pesto

• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 cups fresh basil
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt
• freshly crack pepper

Ingredients – Pickled Onions

• 3 red onions, sliced thin
• 1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 bay leave

Additional Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 burrata
• 1 heirloom tomato
• handful of micro greens
• extra virgin olive oil & balsamic for drizzling

Equipment

• 1 cast iron pan
• mortar & pestle
• small saucepan
• 12-inch pizza pan

Directions- Pizza Dough

1. Combine flour and water in a large bowl (reserve a few tbsp of the warm water), mix until the dough is shaggy. Let sit and rest for 30 minutes, cover with a kitchen towel.
2. In a small bowl combine reserved warm water with yeast. Mix and let sit for 20-30 minutes.
3. Add sea salt and yeast to the dough. Mix, cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Perform two sets of stretch and folds every 30 minutes. Let the dough proof on the counter for 12 hours.
4. Weigh dough into 6 equal portions and shape into balls. Place on a heavily floured or oiled baking sheet. Cover each dough ball with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
5. When you are ready to bake the dough, take the dough out 20 minutes prior. Dust a clean work surface with flour, place the dough ball on the flour and begin to work the dough from the middle in a circular motion. Once the dough is stretched out, transfer to a round pizza pan. Add 2-3 tbsp of olive oil on the dough and fold the dough in half. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil. Bake in the oven at 550 degree F for 8-12 minutes or until the dough is golden.

Directions- Pesto

1. Add two whole garlic cloves and coarse sea salt to a mortar and pestle. Begin to crush the garlic with the pestle until the garlic turns into a paste. Add the basil (a bit at a time) and begin to crush the basil with the pestle until the basil begins to break down. Once the pesto is smooth, add the grated cheese and begin to drizzle in the olive oil. Add freshly cracked pepper and set aside.

Directions- Pickled Onions

1. Slice the onions as thin as possible and add to a 16 oz jar. Add the bay leave.
2. To make the brine, add water, vinegar, sugar and salt to a small saucepan. Heat to medium low and allow the sugar and salt to dissolve. Once dissolved remove from the heat and pour over the onions. Add the lid and let these pickle while you prepare the rest of the sandwich.

Directions – Chicken Breast

1. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Heat a cast iron pan to medium-low heat. Once the pan begins to heat up add a neutral oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper right before you add them to the hot pan. Sear on each side until golden. This should take 4-5 minutes per side. Cook the chicken until the internal temperature is between 160-165 degrees F.

Directions – Sandwich Assembly

1. Once the pizza dough as been removed from the oven, let it cool slightly. Add a layer of pesto, followed by burrata, slices of tomato, chicken, micro greens, pickled onions and more pesto. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and finish with flakey salt and freshly cracked pepper.

Notes

1. Once you put the dough in the fridge, you can use the dough within 6 hours or up to two days. If you are extending the time in the fridge, cover each dough ball with plastic wrap so that the dough doesn’t form a skin.