Mortadella Pizza Sandwich

 

I confess: I'm a sucker for a sexy food photo.

So when I saw the thumbnail for King Arthur's Mortadella Pizza Sandwich, I was both seduced and confused. 

Pizza? Sandwich? What?

Watching the video cleared the confusion, thankfully, and after sharing it with Matt, it went on the menu.

I've never had mortadella. I went vegetarian...oh, god.   Nearly 28 1/2 years ago!?
Wow.

I'm not convinced grocery stores in my little home town even carried the stuff back then.

In any case, I didn't encounter it until well after I'd stopped eating 'food with a face'. 
But again, now that Earth Fare is carrying plant-based deli style meats, I'm able to find something vaguely suitable for the recipe.

Matt, of course, had actual mortadella.

It's half pizza, half hot sub.  A gorgeous, long-rise dough gets stretched, lightly bathed in olive oil, folded in half, and baked in a blisteringly hot oven for a few minutes.

One last blast of heat from the broiler gives you a solid outer crust, while the interior comes out done, but softer.

Gently pry the ...bread? Crust? open, and distribute burrata over the bottom half. 

Next, add your mortadella, lemon zest and juice, roughly chopped salted pistachios, a sprinkling of red pepper flakes and flaky sea salt to the sandwich.

Close, brush the top with some olive oil, and toss on a few more pistachios.  

 

It's stupidly good.  And stupidly easy. The dough's hands-off for the most part, with a little bit of shaping right before baking. The ingredients aren't numerous or complicated. 

And yeah, it's damn sexy.

 Edited to add: I forgot to mention the grated Asiago!!!