Heated Fried Artichoke Sub Sandwich

This, as Bruce would say, is a Julia special. I created this recipe based on what I had available. It reminds me of Greek or Italian recipes, but I haven’t ever seen a recipe similar to this one.

Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients

• 3/4 crusty baguette (I got mine from Grateful Bread)
• 1/2 jar of the 33 oz Kirkland Brand oil marinaded artichokes
• 8 heaping tablespoons of Fotis Olive Tapenade
• 1 ripe large heirloom tomato
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil or more to taste, fresh basil would be wonderful
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used 1/2 cup of mozzarella on my sandwich and 1/2 cup shredded Manchego cheese for Bruce’s sandwich.)
• 1 cups of all purpose flour (I used King Arthur.)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of milk
• Enough avocado oil to cover a frying pan bottom by 1/2 inch or some other type of vegetable oil that has a high smoking point

Tools:

Bread knife, cutting board, shallow pan such as a pie pan or cake pan, fork, baking sheet, cheese grater, cast iron skillet/frying pan, gallon Ziplock (TM) bag, tongs, plate, paper towels

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Cut the 3/4 baguette in half crosswise, then cut each half open like a book. See Picture 1 below.
3. Spread 4 heaping tablespoons of tapenade on the bottom side of the loaf of the bread that has been cut for a sandwich. See Picture 1. Repeat for the second sandwich.
4. Cut the heirloom tomato into slices and place on top of the tapenade. Sprinkle the basil over the tomato slices. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste over the tomato slices. See Picture 2.
5. Place the grated cheese on the top side of the loaf of bread. If some of the cheese falls on the tomato slices, just leave it.
6. Place all four slices of bread in the oven and bake until the cheese melts and has some brown spots. Remove and place on serving plates.
7. Place folded paper towels on a plate.
8. Pour oil in cast iron skillet and start heating it over medium high heat.
9. Place the flour and salt in the gallon Ziplock (TM) bag. Shake to mix the flour and salt together.
10. In the shallow pan, break the egg and add the milk. Beat the egg and milk together with the fork.
11. Add 1/2 a jar of artichoke hearts. Turn to make sure both sides of the artichoke hearts are covered. See Picture 1.
12. Place the artichoke hearts into the Ziplock (TM) bag with flour and shake until the artichoke hearts are covered with flour.
13. When the oil is shimmering, remove several artichoke hearts and place them into the hot oil. See Picture 3. Once the bottom is golden brown, turn with tongs and brown the other side. If frying quarters, you’ll have to make 3 turns. Remove the browned artichoke hearts to the plate lined with paper towels. Repeat until all the artichoke hearts have been fried.
14. Place the fried artichoke hearts on top of the tomato slices. See Picture 4.
15. Place the cheese covered slice over the artichoke hearts for your sub sandwich. See Picture 5.

Notes:

I’ve made a similar sandwich using leftover pizza sauce and cheese on both sides of the bread. I didn’t use any tapenade or fresh tomatoes. It was delicious.

Any type of melty cheese would be good on this sandwich.

Cut the large sandwiches in half crosswise to feed 4 people. Add chips or a side salad.