FRANCESINHA
The ICONIC Portuguese sandwich.
I just spent a week in the north of Portugal so it's only right that we make a northern Portuguese dish, and I think one of the most famous dishes from the north is the Francesinha. The beautiful thing about this dish is that depending on which city or restaurant you eat in, it will always taste a little different. I foolishly thought this meant people wouldn't come for me in the comments but apparently, there's a longstanding rivalry between Portugal's two favourite beers; Super Bock & Sagres, and I chose wrong. I learned the hard way that Sagres is made near Lisbon, while Super BockĀ is made in the North and people take the debate of which is better very seriously. Regardless of which beer you prefer or choose to use, this sandwich is indulgent, meaty, and very very good.
Ingredients (makes 2):
4 thick slices of white bread
8 slices mortadella
2 thin steaks
2 merguez sausages
2 pork sausages
8 slices Edam cheese
2 eggs
Sauce:
75g smoked pork (I used a mix of bacon, chorizo and sausage)
Half a large white onion
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp tomato paste
100ml port wine
50ml red wine
330ml beer
300ml tomato pulp or passata
500ml chicken stock
4 dried piri piri chillies
2 bay leaf
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
Tsp pepper
Tsp salt
Tsp Worcestershire sauce
100g unsalted butter
Serve with fries
Method
Step 1: To make the sauce, first add the smoked pork to a pot and let the fat render then add the onion and garlic.
Step 2: Cook until soft then add the tomato paste and cook it out for 5 minutes. Tip: make sure your heat is not too high so it doesnāt burn.
Step 3: Add the port and red wine and reduce till the alcohol has cooked off (give it a smell, if it isnāt harsh on your nose itās ok) then add all the other ingredients except for the butter.
Step 4: Let the sauce simmer for 30 minutes, remove the bay leaf, and blend till smooth, add the butter and blend again. You can pass this through a sieve if the sauce is gritty. Taste and season if needed, I added more vinegar and salt.
Step 5: I like to give all the protein a good sear before it goes in the sandwich. Cut the sausages in half lengthways and sear till theyāre cooked through and have a nice colour.
Step 6: Sear the mortadella slices till they get a bit crispy, then salt the steaks and sear very quickly on both sides. You want the heat to be high so the steak develops some caramelisation but doesnāt overcook. Since the steaks are really thin weāre not too worried about getting to a perfect medium rare.
Step 7: Toast the bread on both sides, then build the sandwich adding the mortadella, sausages, and steak in between two slices.
Step 8: Place the sandwich in a shallow bowl and top with a fried egg.
Step 9: Stack all your cheese slices and cut a half circle out from one side of them all (I used a small jar, you can use anything round and roughly the same size as an egg yolk).
Step 10: Place the cheese slices around the yolk.
Step 11: Lastly, pour the sauce all over the sandwich, making sure the sauce is very hot so it melts the cheese. Serve with fries.
Kitchen vibe
Been listening to this one for a while and it's always a vibe when it comes on randomly. Definitely glad I found Che Eru, if you want slow, sensual R&B give more of his music a listen.