Sausage Sandwich Recipe

June 25, 2010 | By Anthony In Panini Recipes |

If you live anywhere near New York City then I’m sure you’ve heard of the San Gennaro Feast. And if you’re like me, you go there every September just to have a sausage sandwich. You can buy them served the usual way with onions and peppers or you can get them my favorite way with brocolli rabe and provolone cheese. And with a panini maker you can make your favorite sausage sandwich recipe in the comforts of your own home.

The key to making a good sausage sandwich is of course, good sausage. You really do not want to skimp on the quality of the sausage that you buy. If there’s an Italian deli nearby definitely try their sausage before you head out the supermarket. And you also have a choice between hot or sweet sausage. Lots of gourmet shops sell sausage mixed with lots of junk in them, like cheese or chicken or spinach. I tend to stick with the traditional sweet sausage with no fennel.

For the bread you really want something hardy. Go with either a ciabatta or a panella loaf sliced at least a half inch thick. If you only have white bread in the house, then make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and save the sausage for another day.

If you’ve never had brocolli rabe or rapini it is a bitter green that doesn’t taste anything like brocolli. To cook it the correct way, first you want to blanch it in boiling water for about a minute. Don’t overcook it, there’s nothing worse that mushy rabe. Remove it from the boiling water and place it in an ice bath. This will remove some of the bitterness. If you like the bitter taste, like I do then you can skip the ice bath. Pat it dry with some paper towels and then sauté it with oil and garlic.

Last thing you’ll need a nice chuck of provolone cheese. Break off a few pieces from the hunk of cheese and add them to the sandwich. If you have that softer slicing provolone you may want to skip it. There’s such a big difference in taste between the soft and the hard provolone.

Sausage Sandwich Recipe: