Chicken, tomato, and mozz melt with basil-arugula pesto
Sometimes, you have to just let a picture speak its thousand words without adding your own thousand words below it. I think that's how I feel here. This sandwich is so, so right. Just look at it.
However, I'm going to get on the pulpit for 1 sec (but it's for your own good!!). One of the keys to any good sandwich is to aim to make every bite 'the perfect bite'. Nothing drives me crazier than a haphazardly thrown together sandwich with condiments not spread evenly and ingredients not arranged uniformly. Keep that in mind as you make this sandwich. Don't leave your corners bare—just cut smaller pieces of the ingredients to fit into the free spaces.
Chicken, tomato, and mozz melt with basil-arugula pesto
Good, fresh ciabatta loaf, sliced lengthwise and cut into whatever size sandwiches you'd like
Basil-arugula pesto (recipe below)
Cooked chicken breast (this technique makes a juicy and tender chicken breast every time), sliced ½ inch thick
Tomato, sliced ¼ inch thick
Fresh mozzarella, sliced about ¼ inch thick
Freshly cracked black pepper
Basil leaves
Basil-arugula pesto
½ cup packed basil leaves
1 cup packed arugula
1 small clove garlic
1 T pine nuts
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
4 T extra virgin olive oil
½ T lemon juice
Pinch or two of salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Begin by making the pesto (which should ideally be made at least a couple of hours ahead of time and stored in the fridge). Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor, and process until smooth. Taste for seasoning, and add more salt and pepper as you see fit. Store in the fridge until ready to use.
To construct sandwich, slather bottom side of ciabatta with a generous amount of pesto (for my 4-inch sandwich, I used about 2 tablespoons). Arrange chicken pieces to cover surface. Layer tomato slices on top of that, followed by mozzarella. Sprinkle with a little bit of freshly cracked black pepper. Then slather top half of bread with a little more pesto. With the oven rack in the highest position, turn the oven to Low Broil. Slide the bottom half of the sandwich onto the top rack in the oven, as well as the top half of bread next to it. Broil for 3-4 minutes, until cheese is melting and edges of bread are just starting to crisp up. Remove from oven, and place a few fresh basil leaves on top of the melted mozzarella. Put the sandwich together, cut in half, and devour.
