"Miranda thought about the day ahead and decided on a plan for lunch to set the mood for the rest of the day. She filled a large pot with cold water, added a generous pinch of salt and set it on the stove. She turned the heat on high and began to cut and clean two large bunches of broccoli rabe. Since everyone would be home today for lunch, she thought she would make some special sandwiches.
The chicken breasts were seasoned with salt and pepper, which she would grill later, closer to lunch time. As the water began to bubble on their quick boil burner, Miranda put the broccoli rabe in to blanch for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, she added chopped garlic, red pepper flakes, seasoned salt and pepper to extra virgin olive oil in a sauté pan, cooking just long enough to become fragrant. The blanched vegetable was strained then rinsed in cold water before adding to the oil mixture. As the broccoli rabe reduced in size dramatically, she added half a can of chicken broth and half a cup of white wine. She would let this simmer until tender about twenty minutes. Next, to prepare the real flavor for the sandwich she took a half of a large jar of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil and herbs, and half a jar of Kirkland pesto, she blended the two in her Cuisinart until smooth.
It was getting close to noon, so Miranda took the chicken and grilled it outside on their Weber. She warmed the ciabatta bread until crispy and sliced it lengthwise. The sun-dried tomato pesto was slathered on the bottom piece of bread; the grilled chicken was put on top of that. The broccoli rabe nestled on the chicken and then layers of freshly sliced buffalo mozzarella. The open faced sandwiches were put on cookie sheets and placed in the oven until the cheese began to melt. The crispy top of the bread went on last. She could almost taste them as she plated the sandwiches..." page 39-40
Ingredients for Miranda's grilled sundried tomato pesto chicken sandwich with broccoli rabe and mozzarella: (Serves 4)
Two large chicken breasts, cut lengthwise
Salt
Pepper
Two bunches of broccoli rabe
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove, chopped finely
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Season salt and pepper to taste
1/2 can reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
For sundried tomato pesto:
1 cup sundried tomatoes (I use Bella Sun Luci Premium California sundried tomatoes with olive oil and Italian herbs)
1 cup pesto (I use Kirkland Signiture Basil Pesto from Costco)
One loaf of ciabatta bread, cut into four pieces and each sliced lengthwise
Fresh buffalo mozzarella (you can also use shredded mozzarella or what I used this time was Galbani fresh mozzarella marinated mozzarella in oils, herbs and spices.
Redmon 2018
Napa Valley
Carneros
Chardonnay
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