One of my favorite dinner obsessions is to have “giant sandwich night” as it is affectionately referred to in my household. Basically, we assemble our favorite sandwich fixings onto a huge loaf of specialty bread, whether it’s a round sourdough, long ciabatta or even Italian bread, and divvy it up among each other. The giant sandwich is a simple idea but it adds so much fun to your weeknight meal rotations because there can be so many variations, interesting themes and ways to play around with the basic concept. It’s inexpensive, easy, requires minimal to no cooking technique and can provide lots of leftovers (unless you are part of the Caffrey family, in which the entire thing will be gobbled up in no time)! The giant sandwich is also great for parties, holiday spreads, picnics and road trips and you can diversify the fillings to accommodate different dietary preferences.
I find myself constantly looking for new ways to change up giant sandwich night, and I recently stumbled upon a way to make the bread in-house while creating a fun “wreath-like” circular shape too—the “Bundtwich!” Using your bundt pan and store-bought dough, bake the bread in the pan, then fill with lots of yummy fixings to make a pretty and unique-looking party sub to divvy up. It feeds a crowd and is super easy to pull together. You can prep it ahead of time and wrap it in plastic to allow the flavors to meld and get even more delicious, or eat it as soon as the bread is out of the oven! Most of all, it’s a fun riff on giant sandwich night that is sure to be a showstopper! Here’s a basic Bundtwich recipe to get you started!
Behold the Bundtwich!
- 2 cans refrigerated French bread dough
- approx. 6 slices of provolone cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
- one tomato, sliced
- 1/4 cup mayo
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1/3 pound thinly sliced deli turkey
- 1/3 pound smoked ham
- 1/3 Genoa salami
- 2 tablespoons chopped green olives
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray bundt pan with cooking spray.
2. Remove the dough from cans but do not unroll. Instead, place in the pan in a circle, pinching the ends together to seal into one ring. Bake approximately 40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly, then remove from pan and allow bread to cool for 30 minutes. Cut bread horizontally into two top and bottom pieces.
3. In a small bowl, combine mayo, salt, pepper and pressed garlic. Stir to combine, seasoning with more salt and pepper, if needed. Spread mayo onto both cut sides of bread. Line the bottom portion of the bread with the lettuce and the remainder of the ingredients and place top portion back on. Using a large serrated knife, cut sandwich into wedges to serve. Enjoy!
