Pressed Italian Sandwich

This pressed Italian sandwich has become a Luke fave and my new go-to recipe for almost a week’s worth of make ahead lunch. A loaf of sturdy ciabatta is sliced in half, hollowed out, toasted and spread with softened goat cheese on one half and homemade basil pesto on the other. Marinated artichokes, roasted red pepper, and whatever sliced deli meat I have on hand are layered onto the goat cheese half then topped with the pesto half. The sandwich is then wrapped in plastic and placed in the refrigerator under a cast iron skillet overnight. Slice it into quarters the following morning and you’ve got 4 servings of a great sandwich that just gets better over the course of the work-week.

roasted garlic ciabatta loaf from Ever’man, toasted at 375°, 5-7 min.
4 oz. room temperature goat cheese
1 7.5 oz. jar marinated artichokes, drained very well and patted dry with paper towels
1/4 - 1/3 c. jarred roasted red peppers, pureed, excess liquid drained
1/3 - 1/2 c. basil pesto
10 oz. sliced deli meat (Luke loves a mix of black forest ham and smoked turkey.)