As far as I know, the Italians don’t do padkos. I mean, they might pack a box of biscuits for when they get peckish, but overall, there are no egg sandwiches, sausage rolls or thermos coffee in sight. And why would there be? Italy’s famous for having some of the best food in the world, whether you find yourself in a hillside village or in Rome. But to the boerseun in me, hitting the road without a padkossie feels wrong somehow. I’ll admit that when I recently toured Italy this last summer, I didn’t pack any padkos. It was a food tour, after all. But with a few tweaks, you can turn your padkos into a feast that even an Italian would love.
Italian Padkos
Prep time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 5 minutes | Serves: 2
INGREDIENTS
for the filled guavas
2 guavas
115 g plain medium fat cream cheese
1 bunch red grapes
1 small fresh honeycomb
for the sandwiches
1 baguette, whole
40 g butter, salted
50 g plain medium fat cream cheese
190 g (1 jar) Forage and Feast Artichoke & Sundried Tomato Salad
30 ml Forage and Feast Aged Balsamic Vinegar
5 slices parma ham
150 g Forage and Feast Mature Gouda, grated
16 g wild rocket
for the pasta salad
100g Forage and Feast Mezze Maniche Rigate
195 g (1 jar) Forage and Feast Sweet & Spicy Red Peppers, roughly chopped
50 g Forage and Feast Cherry Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce
80 g Forage and Feast Caponata
10 baby tomatoes, halved
1 sweet red pepper, finely chopped
1 baby fennel bulb, finely sliced
5 g fresh basil, torn
METHOD
for the sandwiches
Preheat the oven to 180 °C and place the baguette in the oven for 5 minutes to warm up. Remove from the oven, divide the loaf in half and slice it open. Start with the first sandwich by spreading the butter in an even layer. Place half of the artichoke and sundried tomato salad, mixed with the aged balsamic vinegar, on the buttered loaf and spread it out using the back of a spoon. Cover with half of the grated gouda and finish with half of the wild rocket leaves. Close the sandwich and serve.
For the second sandwich, spread the cream cheese in an even layer followed by the other half of the artichoke and sundried tomato salad. Arrange the parma ham in a layer and cover with the rest of the grated cheese. Finish the sandwich with the wild rocket, cover and serve.
for the pasta salad
Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Toss the cooked pasta in 30 ml of the sweet and spicy red peppers preserving liquid. Add the pasta sauce and caponata and stir through. Add the baby tomatoes, sweet red pepper and fennel, and stir through. Garnish with the basil and serve.
for the filled guavas
Slice the guavas in half and hollow out. Fill the halved guavas with cream cheese and level with an off-set spatula to have an even surface. Take a few grapes and slice them lengthwise in thin slices. Arrange the grapes in a flower shape on each guava. Place pieces of the honeycomb on top and serve.
FEATURED RECIPES
