Margherita Pizza-Style Chicken Sandwich

Story time! The Margherita pizza was made by Raffaele Esposito a pizza garnished with tomatoes, cheese and basil. To represent the colors of Italy's flag and honor the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy.

This sandwich is based on this pizza, but we will be adding chicken just to make it more filling.

You will need the following:

Loaf of bread (16 oz) - I'm using Ciabatta bread, as it's crispiness is similar to that of a pizza crust.

Mozzarella cheese (8 oz) - You can also use Goat cheese as a substitute.

Can of diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)

Garlic cloves (3 cloves) - 2 will be used for the sauce, 1 for garlic butter

Roma Tomatoes (2 ea.) - You can use other types, but it's the one typically I've seen in Margherita pizza.

Buttermilk (~8 oz)- This will be used to prep the chicken.

Chicken Breast (2 ea.) - This will be cut horizontally and left in the buttermilk the day beforehand.

Fresh Basil Leaves (~10 ea)

Olive Oil (3 tbsp)

Salt

• Blender
• Oven / large skillet / large toaster
• Baking pan (if using oven)
• Bread Knife
• Basting brush
• Skillet (If not using oven/toaster you will need another skillet or just clean it after step 1)

Chicken:

Slice the chicken length wise (horizontally).

Place in a bowl and cover with buttermilk, for 1 hour. I usually do this the day before, that way they're really tender.

Tomato:

You can cut them in slices. I decided to cut them into 1/8", since it looks nicer in the picture.

Cheese:

Cut the cheese in 1/4" slices or buy one that is already sliced. (Especially if it's at the same price!)

Garlic:

Press (or dice, if no presser) 3 garlic cloves. Leave one diced/pressed clove to the side for the garlic butter.

Garlic Butter:

Melt 1/2 tbsp of butter, with 1 pressed garlic and 1/8 tsp of the basil. This will be used in the final step to brush the top of the bread and bottom of the baking pan. This will give some added flavor and crunch to the bread after taken out of the oven.

Heat:

Pre-heat the oven/toaster press to 350F.

Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and pat dry.

We're going very simple with the chicken, just seasoning it with 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of black pepper.

Once the skillet is hot, add 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of oil. Wait for the butter to completely melt before adding the chicken.

Cook the chicken on medium low, once it get's a little color, it's ready.

In the blender, add the pressed garlic, can of tomato, 1/8 tsp of basil and 1 tbsp of sugar. Blend until smooth.

Taste the sauce, if it's too acidic, add more sugar until desired taste.

Cut both ends of the loaf, then slice the loaf like pictured.

Spread the sauce on the bottom slice of the loaf.

Start with placing the chicken, tomato, mozzarella, basil and top slice.

The only reason I specify the order here, is to keep the Italian flag order.

You can add them any way you wish, I confess.... mine was not the most practical.

Finish with spreading the garlic butter, with the baster, on the top slice and coating the baking sheet/ toaster / skillet.

Place the sandwich in the oven or toaster for 10 mins at 350F, or until the cheese starts to melt.

If not using an oven/toaster place the sandwhich on the skillet on medium heat 5 mins on each side, or until the cheese melts.

Remove from heat, cut in desired sizes, and enjoy!!