Focaccia Sandwich with Kale, Turkey, + Pesto

The sandwich of my dreams-- a copycat of a glorious sandwich from one of my all time favorite bakeries: Radio Bakery in Brooklyn! This is my take on the beautiful sandwich.

My homage to Radio Bakery— the hottest bakery in Brooklyn, NY is my copycat of one of their many amazing sandwiches! This one speaks to me in particular because sourdough focaccia and pesto are some of my favorite things in the world!

While there are quite a few separate parts to making this sandwich, it’s actually really easy! I enjoyed this one all on my own and loved making just a couple sandwiches throughout the week. But an amazing idea for this recipe would be to make the entire focaccia into a sandwich, cut it up into individual sandwiches, wrap them with some parchment paper, and bring them to a picnic with friends or serve them at home for a little brunch party!

Focaccia Sandwich with Kale, Turkey, + Pesto Recipe

Ingredients

for sourdough focaccia
100g active starter
400g water, room temperature
10g kosher salt
10g extra virgin olive oil
500g bread flour

for kale salad (makes 2 sandwiches; adjust recipe if making more)
2 cups, packed (150g) chopped kale
2 tablespoons (28g) extra virgin olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon (4g) kosher salt (use 1/2 teaspoon if table salt)

for pesto (makes 2 sandwiches; adjust recipe if making more) *you can also opt for store-bought
1 cup, packed (33g) fresh basil, washed and patted DRY
1/4 cup fresh grated pecorino cheese
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1-2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon pine nuts

1 pound sliced deli turkey

Instructions

sourdough focaccia

1. In a large bowl, measure out 100g active starter. Add water, salt, and olive oil. Using a rubber spatula, mix to dissolve starter. Add the bread flour and mix to combine well until no dry lumps of flour. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl well. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

2. After 30 minutes, with a wet hand, perform your first set of ‘stretch and folds’ to the dough. To do this, have a bowl or cup of clean water near you. Dip your fingers into the water, then lift up the dough from one edge (if the dough were a clock, imagine that we are lifting up ‘12 o’clock’), stretch it up gently as far as it will go without tearing and fold it down into the middle of the dough. Turn the bowl a quarter of the way clockwise (or counter-clockwise), and repeat the stretch and fold at 12 o’clock again. repeat this going around 2 more times. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Repeat the whole stretch and fold process 2 or 3 more times depending on how much time you have.

3. Lift up the dough and flip it so that the smooth side is on top. Drizzle some olive oil on it, cover and let dough almost double in size at room temperature. Then, place in fridge overnight or up to 2 days. Don’t leave it for any longer than that or it will be over proofed. Although it’ll still taste great.

bake the focaccia

1. About 2 hours before you want to bake the focaccia, remove the dough from fridge, generously oil a 9x13in NON STICK baking pan (if not non stick, use parchment paper and oil that). Gently scrape the dough into the baking pan. With oiled hands, gently flip the dough so that that smooth side is on top. DO NOT deflate the dough. Cover and let double in size for about 2 hours. If your house is hot, this may not take as long.

2. Meanwhile, pre heat oven to 450 degrees F.

3. Once doubled in size, the dough should have relaxed to fill up most if not all of the pan. Drizzle olive oil on top of the dough. Optionally, use the oil from the garlic confit. Rub a little oil on your fingers and dimple the dough! Make sure your fingers go all the way through the dough and hit the pan.

4. Sprinkle desired amount of flaky sea salt on top, sprinkle a generous amount of white sesame seeds, and place immediately into the hot oven! Bake for 25-30 minutes until deep golden brown.

5. Remove from oven, let cool for about 10 minutes, then carefully remove from pan and let cool on a cooling rack. I like to do this around 10 minutes to preserve the crispy bottom. If it cools for too long in the baking pan, the bottom may become a bit soft or soggy.

prep the kale

1. Place clean and dry chopped kale into a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. Toss kale with your hands to combine the ingredients and massage the kale for a minute or two to soften the kale. Put aside.

make the pesto

1. Place the basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, pecorino cheese, and parmesan cheese into a blender or food processor and blend well until a perfectly creamy but slightly bitty pesto forms! Scrape into a bowl and set aside.

assemble the sandwich

1. Cut up the freshly baked focaccia into several even size rectangles. Taking one rectangle, slice it in half horizontally so you have the top and bottom for the sandwich.

2. Evenly spread some pesto onto the inside of both the top and bottom pieces of focaccia.

3. Layer desired amount of sliced turkey onto the bottom piece of focaccia.

4. Top with a generous amount of kale, then press the top piece of focaccia on top. Enjoy as is or slice in half before eating!

NOTES

• If assembling sandwich with 1-2 day old focaccia, warm up the focaccia in air fryer or toaster oven first before assembling sandwich.

• This recipe is great for making MANY MANY sandwiches; just increase the amount of kale salad and pesto! Assemble the entire 9x13 inch focaccia like a huge sandwich, and then slice into equal sized individual sandwiches after.