Italian Caprese Chicken Sandwiches with Garlic Aioli

It has been a long time since I shared a tasty recipe with you readers.  I needed a little break for school vacation week and the little break just didn't want to end.  Until now.  I decided it was long over due to share these Italian Caprese Chicken Sandwiches with you.  Remember last year I made mini Italian sandwiches, full of great Italian deli meats and homemade olive muffaletta for our annual Ladies' Tea at church?  This year I stayed true to those Italian flavors but created a new sandwich that everyone loved.  I wanted to make a sandwich using the typical Caprese Salad as the starting point and decided to add thin chicken cutlets and a delicious garlic aioli to finish it off.  TO. DIE. FOR.  Well, maybe not DIE.  How 'bout this - TO. SIGH. FOR.  or TO. SING. FOR.  Anyways, you get the point.  They were delish. 

Italian Caprese Chicken Sandwiches with Garlic Aioli
for the chicken cutlets:
boneless chicken breasts, sliced thin (see this post here on how to cut the chicken into thin slices)
2 eggs, mixed with 1/4 cup milk and S&P
2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
canola and olive oil, for frying
for the Caprese Salad:
fresh mozzarella
vine ripe tomatoes
fresh basil leaves
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
for the aioli (recipe adapted from allrecipes.com):
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, minced finely
juice of half a lemon
pinch of salt, pepper
rolls

Directions:
First, make the aioli by mixing together all the ingredients.  Place in fridge until ready to use. 

You may want to make this the day before to really give the flavors times to develop.
Next, make the chicken cutlets.

Slice your chicken into thin pieces (check out this post where I show how to cut the chicken into thin pieces).  FYI, I made two dozen mini sandwiches so there is a lot of every ingredient going on here.  You probably don't need to make as much if you are just making these for your family :)

Mix your eggs with the milk and salt and pepper.

Whisk together well.

Place your bread crumbs in a shallow bowl.  I like to use metal cake pans to make cutlets.

Set up an assembly line with your chicken slices, egg/milk mixture and bread crumbs - ending by the stove.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add canola oil to cover the bottom of the pan.  Swirl in a few tablespoons of olive oil.  Remember, you aren't deep frying here, just shallow pan frying so you only need enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan and just barely come up the sides.  You know your oil is hot enough when you place the end of a wooden spoon into the oil and it sizzles and bubbles around it.

Dip the chicken into the egg/milk mixture.

Next, coat the chicken in the bread crumbs, making sure to cover both sides well.

Place in the skillet and cook for about 3 minutes on each side, until nicely browned and cooked through.  They are thin so they should cook fast.

Drain the cutlets on a brown paper bag. It will absorb any extra oil. Sprinkle a little salt right over the cutlets while they are hot.  Continue with remaining cutlets, until they are all breaded and fried. Now set them aside until you are ready to assemble your sandwich.

Now we are going to assemble the Caprese Salad part of the sandwich.  Basically you are just layering the ingredients into little stacks.

Slice the fresh mozzarella into thick rounds, and cut the bigger rounds into halves (if you are making full size sandwiches you may want to leave them big, but mine were for mini sandwiches so I cut the rounds in half).  Do the same with the vine ripe tomatoes and stack the tomato slices on top of the mozzarella.  Place a whole basil leave on top of the tomato.  I love the smell of fresh basil.

Sprinkle a little salt over the stacks and drizzle lightly with olive oil and then with balsamic vinegar.  Now you have Caprese Salad.  This is an awesome summer salad to serve with dinner, but it also goes great in these little sandwiches.

We are ready to assemble!

Liberally spread the garlic aioli on the bottom of the inside of your roll. 

Place a chicken cutlet right over the aioli.

Add a Caprese Salad stack right over the chicken and you got yourself a tasty little sandwich.

My friend Carole and my sister Liz came to my house before the Ladies Tea and I put them to work helping me assemble these sandwiches.  They were awesome kitchen sous chefs :)  And in exchange, I shared a couple little sandwiches with them.  My sister is one of the pickiest eaters I know, so I was really excited she liked the sandwiches so much.

Whenever I bring food to an event I like to make little signs so people know what they taking.

Doesn't that look so yummy?

Enjoy!

Italian Stuffed Artichokes

This recipe is a favorite originating from my Mother's large Italian family. It was her job growing up to clean, trim, and stuff the artichokes.  I can't imagine making a dozen of these at a time. My Mom taught me to make these when I was young and now I make them for my family. My husband and my son Jack really enjoy eating stuffed artichokes.  They are a "labor of love" to make because of the preparation, but very worth it.  Most people are scared to cook or even eat whole artichokes, so hopefully this post will help educate and show you how easy it is. 

Italian Stuffed Artichokes

Ingredients:

4 medium fresh artichokes

2 - 3 cups Italian style breadcrumbs

1/2 cup grated pecorino romano, or parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon garlic salt or 1 clove fresh minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1/3 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 

Directions:

Using a sharp knife, cut off the stem of the artichoke.

You will need it to sit upright in a pan so make the bottom level.

Next trim off about 1/2 inch of the very top of the artichoke.

It should now look like this.

Using a pair of kitchen shears and starting from the bottom, trim off the pointy top of each leaf.  You are only cutting the tip, so maybe about 1/4 inch?

Continue all the way around the artichoke until you get to the top where the leaves are much tighter.

Don't worry if some of the leaves split a little in the middle when you are trimming them.

Continue with remaining artichokes.

Now you are ready to wash and stuff the artichokes.

Wash the artichokes and use your fingers to help loosen up the leaves by gently pulling them away from the center.  This will make them easier to stuff.  Turn the artichoke upside down and shake out any excess water.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Add the bread crumbs, grated cheese, parsley, garlic powder (or garlic) to a large mixing bowl.  Mix together.

Add enough olive oil to make the mixture moist.

You want the mixture to be able to stick together when pressed against the side of the bowl with a fork.

Now stuff the artichoke leaves right over the bowl. Starting at the bottom again work your way up and around till you get to the top with the tighter leaves.  Gently pull out each leaf and use your hand to scoop some of the mixture into the leaf.  Don't worry if some falls out.  Push the mixture down using your thumb.

Your choke should look big and fat now :)

Once you have stuffed most of the artichoke (don't do the leaves at the top) turn the artichoke upside down and shake out any excess bread crumb mixture.

Continue with remaining artichokes.  Depending how heavy handed you are with the mixture, you might need to make more.  I had just enough to stuff four artichokes.

These bad boys are ready for the oven now.

You can drizzle a little lemon juice over the top to prevent browning if you wish (I usually do not).

Place the artichokes in a large metal roasting pan.

Pour enough water into the pan to cover the base of the artichokes - about 1/2 inch of water.  You need this water to help steam the chokes.

Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 60-80 minutes.  The cook time with depend on the size of your artichokes and how much you stuffed them.

After 60 minutes remove the pan from the oven to check for doneness.  Carefully uncover the pan.

Use your fingers to pull out a leaf from one of the artichokes.  If it comes out easily, they are done.  If it gives you resistance, cover and cook for another 10 minutes or so and check again.

Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

To eat the artichoke, pull out a leaf with the bread crumb mixture...

Use your teeth to scrape off the bread crumb mixture into your mouth.  You can also eat the very bottom part of the leaf (the tender lighter colored part), which is part of the heart.

Discard the leaf and continue eating the remaining stuffed leaves.  Once the outer leaves are gone, and you get to the center of the artichoke, use a spoon to scrape off the little white leaves and the fuzzy part covering the heart.  The heart is on the bottom and very yummy.

From generation to generation, this recipe is a classic and continues to be a pleaser for all.  Enjoy.