5 Ingredients or Fewer

Viana La Place's Umbrian Black Olive Panino

by:
September 16, 2014
4
4 Ratings
Viana La Place's Umbrian Black Olive Panino
Photo by Mark Weinberg
  • Prep time 5 minutes
  • Makes 1 panino
Author Notes

This sandwich recipe is unusual in its simplicity, but still manages to teach us a few things we didn't already know. Yes, you can, and should, make olives into a sandwich, and an olive sandwich into lunch. But, more than that, you can use La Place's panino techniques any time: Swipe a little garlic on your bread before you layer on tomatoes or cured meats. Or douse it in lemon and olive oil first (try this under a slab of fresh mozzarella). Consider zest. Fill a roll with marinated mushrooms, or roasted peppers, or pickles, and not much else. Recipe from Panini, Bruschetta, Crostini: Sandwiches, Italian Style (William Morrow, 2002)


Sandwich fan? Tune into our podcast, The Sandwich Universe, where co-hosts and longtime BFFs Molly Baz and Declan Bond debate and cook up iconic sandwiches every ‘wich way. —Genius Recipes

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 small crusty roll, with a firm, chewy crumb
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • Juice of 1/2 a small lemon
  • 8 oil-cured black olives, pitted and cut in half
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest, preferably from an organic orange (use a zester to create thin strips)
Directions
  1. Slice the roll in half horizontally. Pull out a little of the inside of the bread to form shallow hollows.
  2. Cut the garlic clove in half. Rub the inside of both halves of the bread with the cut garlic cloves. You can determine how much flavor you want by how hard you rub the clove into the bread.
  3. Drizzle the bread generously with olive oil and lemon juice.
  4. Nestle the olives into the bottom half of the roll, sprinkle with orange zest, and cover with the other half.
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8 Reviews

Tara D.
Tara D. July 19, 2022
I look forward to trying this. I love oil cured olives in just about anything and they are the ONLY things always in my refrigerator!! They are must haves in omelets, salads, simple pastas, etc.. I can't believe I have never tried a sandwich before!!!
 
The P.
The P. June 17, 2018
Winner. Anything from Viana is pretty much a winner. I still treasure my well-worn copy of "Cucina Fresca" purchased over a quarter-century ago.
 
Cheri M.
Cheri M. May 20, 2017
Wow wow where has this been hiding! Delicious!
 
michelle
michelle October 5, 2016
Some of the best food I've ever eaten was made from fewer than five ingredients. This looks like a real winner, wow! (for another simple sandwich, try ciabatta, heirloom tomato, salted butter and pepper....amazing and one of my favorite summer treats.)
 
Merry
Merry July 7, 2016
Our new favorite. Using the very best ingredients makes this simple sandwich a winner!
 
beejay45
beejay45 November 5, 2015
This is almost exactly my favorite apple and olive salad, except, of course with apples added. Amazing. I could have been making it into a sandwich all these years. Yay, VlP. Too many years ago to count, I bought her book, Verdura, and fell in love. I'm going to have to dig that out and do some cookbook shopping. ;)
 
weshook
weshook December 13, 2014
Wow! I tried this earlier this week. I forgot to rub the bread with the garlic, and I didn't have an orange to zest so I zested a Meyer lemon and used the Meyer lemon juice. I love olives and this was so good. It was savory and the fruitiness of the olives really came forward. Definitely making this for myself again.
 
Marcella H.
Marcella H. October 9, 2014
Victor's grandmother had this for him when he came home from school: A slice of grilled bread topped with generous sprinkling of grated Parmigiano Reggiano and then saturated with good olive oil. Don't let its simplicity deceive you, it is as good and possibly tastier than any panino one can dream of.