Toasts with greens and mortadella
A riff on a baloney sandwich
At heart, I'm still a kid who loves a baloney sandwich on white bread with yellow mustard.
As I harvested my most recent batch of young mustard greens from a 2' x 2' section of a raised planter on my deck, I thought, what if I could recreate that sandwich in a grown-up way?
So I wilted my mustard greens with a bit of sliced garlic softened in a small pool of olive oil and finished it with a shot of vinegar for that familiar mustardy tang. I layered the greens on some sourdough toast and draped over a few slices of mortadella, aka high-class baloney.
And you know what? It hit the spot. At first, I thought this was far too simple to write up as a recipe. But my husband was so enthusiastic about these toasts that I felt a moral obligation to share.
"Do you think this is enough for dinner?" I said.
"Maybe with some cheese on the side, sure," he said.
When halved, they also make lovely little snacks to serve with wine.
So here's the thing about sandwich recipes: They're easier to make than to explain. A piece of me just wants to say, "Put it on toast and eat!"
But then I also have opinions about which specifics matter and which don't.
So, below, you'll find a "recipe" for these toasts. But in the end, you can just wilt some greens, throw them on toast with mortadella, and enjoy. :)
Toasts with Wilted Greens and Mortadella
Serves 2 as dinner and 4 as a snack
Mustard greens create the most “mustardy” flavor when tossed with vinegar, so those are my preference here. The mustard greens I used are a mix of tender Asian mustard greens. You could use the larger bunches of Southern-style mustard greens, but you might need to cook them a bit longer.
I know not every market sells mustard greens, so I offered some alternatives in the ingredient list below.
3 cloves garlic
8 ounces tender mustard greens, radish greens, arugula, turnip greens, or baby kale
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt
1 teaspoon rice or white wine vinegar
Freshly ground pepper
8 slices mortadella (about ¼ pound)
4 large but not-too-thick slices sourdough
Prep the garlic and greens
Peel and thinly slice the garlic cloves.
Remove any thick or tough stems from the greens. Transfer the greens to a bowl, cover with water, and swish them around to remove any grit. If you see a lot of grit at the bottom of the bowl, repeat rinsing a few more times.
Lift the greens out of the water and transfer to a cutting board. Bunch up the greens and chop the greens into bite-sized pieces. (Run your knife across them a few times and in a few different directions.)
Cook the greens
In a deep skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, tilting the pan so the oil pools and the garlic fries a bit, until the garlic is softened, 1 to 2 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium low. Add the greens and turn them a few times. Add ¼ teaspoon salt, then cover, and cook, until the greens are wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. (The water attached to the leaves should help them wilt.) Uncover and cook, turning a few times.
Taste one of the greens. If it’s tender to your liking, turn off the heat. If they’re still a bit tough, continue cooking, tasting every few minutes. Ideally, you’ll have greens that are tender within 5 minutes.
When the greens are tender, stir in the vinegar and a few grinds of pepper and let cool to warm. Taste and season with more salt, if desired.
Make the toasts
Brush the top sides of the bread with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with a little salt, if desired.
Toast until just firm and starting to brown at the edges. (Do this in a toaster oven, or, if you don’t have one, a 350°F oven for 5 to 8 minutes.)
Assemble your toasts
So at this point, I think you know what to do, right? Either divide the greens among the toasts and top each with 2 folded pieces of mortadella or vice versa. (I think I have a slight preference for the mortadella on top.)
Cut the toasts in half crosswise. Or don’t!
The short version
Slice the garlic, wash and prep the greens, cutting the greens into bite-sized pieces.
Cook the garlic in olive oil, add the greens, and cook until tender.
Brush one side of the bread with olive oil and toast until firm and just starting to brown at the edges.
Assemble the toasts how you like.
Fun for kids
Remove stems from the greens and wash the greens.
Brush the bread with oil.
Assemble the toasts.
Swaps
Instead of the greens I listed above, you could also try broccoli rabe, which will be more bitter or Swiss chard or spinach, which will have a different vibe, but will still taste good.
Instead of mortadella, try prosciutto.
Instead of garlic, try sliced fennel.
Instead of rice vinegar, use white wine or Champagne vinegar or distilled white vinegar.
Bonus points
I haven’t tried this but I am curious about melting a little fontina cheese on the toasts, then topping with the greens followed by the mortadella.
Sprinkle chopped pistachios over top of the toast as a nod to the nuts in the mortadella.
These are great. I used radish and turnip greens from my CSA today, and added a little shaved gouda. Perfect early dinner with a glass of white wine. Thank you!