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MOZZARELLA AND SPECK SANDWICHES

This is a great sandwich when you’ve got a drink in one hand and want a nibble in the other. Unlike most grilled cheese, this little guy doesn’t require a slathering of butter to go perfectly crispy. I like to use day-old good bread, the airy kind pocked with holes. I squish the sandwiches with my spatula as they cook, and the fat from the mozzarella leaks out and urges the bread towards golden brown. Once you’ve made this a few times, you can start playing around a bit, tucking in herbs like basil or rosemary.

serves 4 as lunch, 8 as a snack

Two 225g balls mozzarella di bufala

Eight 1cm-thick slices day-old rustic bread

16 thin slices speck or 8 thin slices prosciutto

Drain the mozzarella and cut it into sixteen 0.5cm-thick slices. Lay the slices on a few layers of kitchen paper and pat them with more paper, pressing on the slices a bit to sop up some of their liquid.

Put 2 slices of mozzarella on each of 4 slices of the bread. Top each with 4 slices of speck or 2 slices of prosciutto (make sure there’s plenty hanging off the sides so it can get crispy), then top off with 2 more slices of mozzarella. Top the stacks with the remaining bread and press down lightly.

Grab a large non-stick pan and pop it over medium heat. Once it’s nice and hot, place 2 of the sandwiches in the pan. Every now and again, give the sandwiches a good old press with the back of a spatula. Once their bottom sides are golden with patches of brown here and there, about 6 minutes, carefully flip the sandwiches. Cook on their other sides, again making sure to give the sandwiches a few good squishes, until they’re deep golden brown, about 6 minutes more. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches and serve.