The Best Italian-Inspired Mortadella Sandwich Recipe: How to Customize Your Own
Mortadella is one of Italy’s most famous cured meats, originating from the city of Bologna. While it is often served on charcuterie boards or used in pasta fillings, one of the most popular ways to enjoy it is in a mortadella sandwich.
This recipe combines thin slices of mortadella with cheese, sautéed mushrooms, pickles and a crispy fried egg, all layered inside toasted sourdough bread.
What Is Mortadella?
Mortadella is a traditional Italian cured meat that originates from the city of Bologna. Made from finely ground pork and small cubes of pork fat, it has a distinctive marbled appearance and rich flavour.
It is often delicately seasoned and sometimes studded with pistachios or black pepper. Mortadella is usually served thinly sliced and can be enjoyed on charcuterie boards, in sandwiches or alongside fresh cheeses and bread.
One of the most popular ways to eat mortadella is in a sandwich, where its soft texture and savoury flavour pair beautifully with crusty bread and complementary ingredients.
How to Eat Mortadella
Mortadella is most commonly eaten thinly sliced and served cold, either in sandwiches or on a charcuterie board with cheeses. In Italy, it is traditionally served with focaccia or crusty bread and sometimes accompanied by pistachios, pickles, or fresh cheeses such as ricotta or burrata.
Traditional Mortadella Sandwich: What Goes in a Mortadella Sandwich
While some versions keep things simple and emphasise the quality of the ingredients, a traditional mortadella sandwich might consist of just two elements: thinly sliced, high-quality mortadella and a soft cheese such as provolone, ricotta or burrata.
More elaborate versions may include additions such as mustard, green herb or pistachio pesto, fresh or sun-dried tomatoes, antipasti-style roasted red peppers or crisp salad leaves.
How Do Italians Eat Mortadella Sandwiches?
Both of the above versions can be eaten as a cold mortadella sandwich or toasted to melt the cheese and add crunch to the bread. Giardiniera (an Italian relish made from pickled vegetables in vinegar or oil) is often served on the side or added to the inside of the sandwich along with the meat and cheese.
The Best Bread For Mortadella
A great sandwich begins with high-quality ingredients and excellent bread. Without the right bread, the star ingredients inside the sandwich have no stage to shine on. Being quintessentially Italian, mortadella is often sandwiched between ciabatta or focaccia as they offer a good balance of soft and crunchy textures. So basically, any high-quality bread with a chewy, moist inside and firm or crispy outside is ideal.
How To Make The Best Mortadella Sandwich Recipe
Whether you prefer to keep it classic as mentioned above, or pile it high with a fusion of bold ingredients, the choice is entirely yours. Flaevor’s Epic Mortadella Sandwich is a twist on the Italian classic and can be enjoyed either cold or hot. It combines mortadella with British cheddar and French brie, layered with butter-sautéed mushrooms, pickles, tomato, and one of the best additions to any sandwich or burger: a crispy fried egg.
The sandwich is finished with anchovy-stuffed olives as a nod to giardiniera, and since this creation was first imagined in London, high-quality sourdough bread holds everything together perfectly.
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The Ultimate Mortadella Sandwich Recipe with Fried Egg and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 large slices of sourdough bread
- Butter
- 4-6 slices of Mortadella
- Sliced Cheddar and French Brie* (See Recipe Notes)
- 2-4 slices of tomato
- 2 large chestnut mushrooms
- 2 large crunchy lettuce leaves
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- 1 large pickled cucumber (salty, not sweet)
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 egg
- 2 green olives stuffed with anchovies
Instructions
- Mix the mayonnaise and mustard together to make the sauce.
- Slice the mushrooms thinly. Heat a frying pan with a little butter and sauté the mushrooms with a pinch of salt until cooked through.
- In the same pan, add a dash of oil and fry the egg until crispy around the edges. Do not flip. Season with salt.
- Season the tomato slices with salt.
- Arrange all the sandwich ingredients around you. Toast the sourdough slices until golden brown. Spread one side of each slice with butter.
- Start building your sandwich: Divide the mayo-mustard between the two slices of bread. Then on the bottom slice, start with the lettuce, squeezing a little lemon juice over the leaves. Then layer the fried egg, sliced mortadella, fried mushrooms, cheddar and brie, pickle slices and finally the tomato slices. Top with the remaining piece of toasted sourdough.
- Skewer 2 olives. Slice the sandwich in half, stack the slices and pin together with the skewer so that the olives sit nicely on top.
Notes
To read about where Mortadella is made and how it’s produced, click here through to the official Mortadella Bologna website
