Monday 29 September 2014

Croque 'n' Roll!

Pane Tostato con Zucchini, Pomodori, Pancetta, Olive & Scamorza Affumicata
Toated Bread, Zucchini, Tomato, Bacon, Olives and Smoked Scamorza Cheese


 

Cheese on Toast, "Croque Monsieur", Welsh Rarebit... all just "kids stuff" compared to this suppertime treat! How about upping your game just a little and making this big daddy of all the cheese sandwiches in the world? You know you want to!

Home tired-out from work and not feeling in the mood for making "a real meal", I started out thinking I would just toast myself a couple of rolls, with a little cheese and tomato, grab a mug of coffee and just have done with it. But then I did this instead! Yay!


 

Almost a savory bread pudding, although easy to make, this really did transform what would otherwise have been a snack into a real meal. It was easy, it was fun- and it was worth that extra little bit of effort it took to make it!

 

Armed with 2 rye bread rolls, 1 small round zucchini, 7-8 cherry tomatoes, a sprinkle of finely diced bacon, 4-5 black olives, 1 Spring onion, 1/3 of smoked Scamorza cheese, 1 cup of vegetable broth, a little fresh parsley and rosemary and a good pinch of dried oregano- I made myself a Mediterranean feast on toast!

 

Why not have fun with your food, even if you are only using really simple ingredients? For me, putting something nice together for supper after a hard day at work helps me to relax, unwind and settle down- and the feeling of satisfaction, as well of course as the great flavor, just makes for a good ending to the day- be it for family or friends, or simply for yourself... you deserve it as much as anyone else after all!

 

I cut the zucchini into quarters first and then cut the quarters into wedges, I sliced the cherry tomatoes and onion, turned on the oven to start it getting warm and grabbed myself a frying pan to get going! A hungry guy doesn't waste much time in the kitchen!

  

Into the frying pan went the bacon bits, the zucchini slices, the Spring onion and plenty of rosemary, which I fried together with no added fat, relying on the tiny bit of fat in the bacon to the the job- and it did it rather nicely as well! As soon as the zucchini began to brown on all sides, I turned off the heat and set it to one side.

 

I cut my 2 rolls into quarters and spread them out on a baking dish nicely and evenly.

 

I then added the zucchini wedges and tomatoes in-between the slices, added the olives, cut into smaller pieces, salt, pepper and a little dried oregano. I then sprinkled 1 cup of hot vegetable broth over everything nicely and evenly and covered the baking dish with foil.

 
 
Into the hot oven it went, at 200°C, for 10 minutes, to get a little steam bath and for all of the flavors to seep into the bread.

 
 
I then added the grated Scamorza cheese and a good pinch of fresh parsley and dried oregano- and doesn't that just look delicious?

 

Funny how what you would consider to be so little and such simple ingredients can suddenly seem so decadent and rich! And speaking of which, the finishing touch before it went back into the oven to finish baking, was the diced bacon that had remained in the bottom of the frying pan after browning off the zucchini... yum, yum, yum!

 

And 10-15 minutes later... voila! Golden brown, crispy on top and juicy inside, my suppertime sensation was ready to enjoy!

 
 
What more could you want than a snack like that?

 

Except for maybe just another slice!?!

 

Or why not just finish the whole thing off! I think that's a great idea... well of course, I would say that, because that is exactly what I did!

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