I have gotten a lot of mileage out of America's Test Kitchen magazines, especially Cook's Country. As soon as I saw their "picnic sandwich" write-up, I knew I had to try it. I ended up making a couple substitutions, but nothing major. And I'm very happy with how it came out overall. I'd definitely make it again. I'd also be interested in trying out different flavour combinations. They have a few variations listed at the end of the recipe: Capicola and provolone with artichoke spread, ham and mozzarella with kalamata olive spread. And those both sound like decent combinations but... I'd really like to try a vegetarian version of this sometime. That said, the turkey and havarti combo was quite nice. Definitely worth making if you have omnivores in the group.

Turkey and Havarti Picnic Sandwich with Sun-Dried Tomato Spread

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country August/September 2019

Ingredients

Bread

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• cornmeal, for dusting
• 500g whole wheat pizza dough

Sun-Dried Tomato Spread

• 3/4 c. oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/4 c. sliced almonds, toasted
• 1/4 c. capers
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 6-8 Tbsp. olive oil

Sandwich Assembly

• 125g havarti¹ cheese (preferably aged)
• 250g sliced deli turkey
• 1/2 c. (or more) baby spinach and/or arugula/rocket²
• 2 whole (or ~1 1/4 c.) jarred roasted red peppers, drained and patted dry

Directions

Bread

1. Use ~1 tsp. of the olive oil to lightly oil a baking sheet. Dust with cornmeal.
2. Shape the dough into a 18cm (7") square³.
3. Place shaped loaf on prepared baking sheet.
4. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F). (Let dough rest/rise while oven preheats.)
5. Brush top of dough with remaining tsp. of olive oil.
6. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for ~15 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 1 hour.

Spread

If you have a food processor:

1. Combine tomatoes, almonds, capers, lemon juice, garlic, and red pepper flakes until finely chopped.
2. Stir in 6 Tbsp. of oil.

If you have a blender:

1. Combine tomatoes, almonds, capers, lemon juice, garlic, and red pepper flakes in blender jar.
2. Add 2 Tbsp. of oil and blend for a few seconds.
3. Add another 2 Tbsp. of oil and give a few more pulses.
4. Keep blending and adding oil, 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, until mixture seems mostly uniform.

Sandwich Assembly

1. Cut bread in half horizontally.
2. Spread tomato mixture on both cut sides of bread. (Use it all.)
3. Pile turkey, cheese, greens, and bell peppers on top of bottom half of bread.
4. Cap with top of loaf.
5. Wrap tightly (in cling film or similar).
6. Place something heavy (~7kg/15 lbs.) on top and allow to press for an hour.
7. Remove weight(s) and place sandwich in fridge until read to eat (or pack for picnic).
8. Sandwich can be kept at room temperature for up to two hours.
9. When ready to eat, cut into quarters (or eights, depending on how hungry you are) and serve.

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¹ The original recipe calls for Muenster. I couldn't find any at my grocery store, so I grabbed a small block of 12-month aged havarti cheese. It's still quite mild and has some of the havarti creaminess, but is a little firmer and more flavourful than your typical havarti. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for fresh parsley here. The grocery store was completely sold out, so I ended up using a bit of mixed baby spinach and arugula (aka rocket) instead. ^Back
3 The original recipe just says to "press" the dough into a square shape. This did not work very well for me. Both because it was difficult to make it square and because pressing alone didn't seem to give it the internal structure it needed to spring properly in the oven. I ended up with a roughly round loaf with a marked depression in the centre.
Next time I would try to stretch or roll the dough into a roughly 36cm (14") circle and then fold the sides in to meet in the middle and make a roughly square shape. Then flipping it over and baking seam side down would hopefully give it both better shape and structure. ^Back