Panettone Gastronomico (Italian Sandwich Tower)

3. Three. Tre. Tres. Tatlo. Trois. Drei. That's about it. That's the extent of my knowledge of numbers in different languages without googling it. Three years have passed quite fast and so many things have changed for me. What I started on the first day of February in 2011 as a diary of recipes, stories about my family life, traveling and photographs slowly paved way to a full-time job.

It's a big transition for me, keeping me busy 24 hours a day and giving me that sense of accomplishment right before I turned 40. I know, it's just a number but when things fall on the right places before that big number arrives to your life, it helps a lot, especially when you are a stay-at-home mom. I feel like I have blossomed into a person that I never thought I could ever be. After 3 years, I found myself constantly on the move, completely inseparable with my camera, attending food & wine tastings, reviewing hotels, developing recipes and writing continuously. It's a totally new turn in my life and I would like to thank every single one of you who followed me all these years for believing in what I share. 

 

When people ask me what I do, I don't usually know what to answer because it's not a job that I can answer with just one word. It's something that needs more explaining and stories to attach it with. As soon as I say what I do, it's a guaranteed long conversation. I love it because topics about food and travel never fail to perk interests. It's a conversational piece that doesn't have any limits and it's a topic that I love contributing to (aside from parenting two vibrant kids).

Kids. You have read how much they have grown over the years. When I started this blog, my daughter was just 1-year old, still excited in exploring the different tastes and textures she was finding on her plate and my son, who was only 4 then, was a big picky-eater. He was actually one of the reasons why I started this blog, to make eating fun for him with creative plates I used to prepare. 3 years saw a big change in my kids too. My daughter became an extremely picky-eater while my son eats diligently whatever I put on his plate with adult portions (just not anything white or blue).

A blog anniversary calls for a celebration. The third one is as special as the Second where I shared recipes for pizzette (mini pizzas) and the First where I shared recipes for bruschette.

In this celebration, I decided to share another typical Italian food. The Panettone Gastronomico is a tower of sandwiches with different fillings. We usually have this during children's parties and it's always a nice centerpiece on the buffet table. Just eating it is like a waiting game. If you like the bottom part, you will have to wait until the others take the upper sandwiches.

Both the sweet Christmas panettone and this panettone have the same shape but the bread of this one is salty and the similarity ends there. For the fillings, you can put whatever you want. I made 6 different fillings with this panettone. The bread is store-bought but if you can't find it in your part, you can try this recipe. 

Again, my biggest thank yous to all of you for making me reach my third year! 

Similar recipes:

12 Bruschette For 12 Months of Blogging
Pizzette (Mini Pizzas) For My Second Year!

Panettone Gastronomico

1. Extract 2 slices of bread at a time to make the sandwiches. 
2. Fill them up with the spreads and fillings then stack them one on top of the other.
3. To secure it, push a long bamboo skewer stick in the middle. 
4. Decorate the top with anything. In my panettone, I used mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and parsley. 
5. To prepare for cutting, take away all the decorations on top then with a long, sharp knife, cut it into 4. 

One. Frittata con 'Nduja

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• Salt
• Extra virgin olive oil 
• 'Nduja
• Baby lettuce

Directions:

1. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with salt then add 1 teaspoon of 'nduja. 
2. Over medium heat, in a small skillet with extra virgin olive oil, cook the frittata. Let it cool.
3. Spread a thin layer of 'nduja on the bread, distribute the lettuce then place the frittata.

Two. Taggiasche & Ibèrico de Bellota

Ingredients:

• Ibèrico de Bellota
• Patè di Olive Taggiasche

Directions:

1. Spread a thin layer of olive cream on the bread. 
2. Cover it with slices of iberico de bellota.

Three. Prosciutto & Scamorza

Ingredients:

• Prosciutto cotto (cooked ham)
• Cream cheese
• Scamorza cheese, sliced

Directions:

1. Spread a layer of cream cheese on the bread.
2. Put slices of prosciutto cotto and scamorza.

Four. Wild Fennel, Tomatoes & Cream Cheese

Ingredients:

• Patè di finocchio selvatico (wild fennel)
• 1 fresh medium to big tomato, thinly sliced & seeded
• Cream cheese

Directions:

1. Spread a layer of the patè on the bread.
2. Place the tomatoes on the patè.
3. Spread a layer of the cream cheese on the other half of the bread (inner part).

Five. Mozzarella, Zucchini & Anchovies

Ingredients:

• 1 zucchini, thinly sliced
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• 1 ball mozzarella
• 2 anchovy fillets preserved in olive oil, chopped
  

Directions:

1. Drain the mozzarella and lightly squeeze it to send away the water it was preserved in. Slice then set aside.
2. Over medium heat, in a small saucepan with extra virgin olive oil, sautè the zucchini until golden brown. Sprinkle some salt.
3. On the bread, distribute the mozzarella, zucchini and the anchovies.

 

Six. Salami, Peppers & Emmental

Ingredients:

• Salami
• Bottled grilled peppers, drained
• Emmental cheese, sliced

Directions:

1. Distribute a layer of salami on the bread.
2. Top with slices of grilled peppers.
3. Follow with a layer of emmental.