13 Italian Sandwiches To Add To Your Foodie Bucketlist
Here's one of the biggest things you should know about Italian cuisine: It's not just pizza and pasta. Although those two foods are the Mediterranean country's flagship offerings, Italian cuisine is a rich tapestry of different dishes, influences, and flavors — and it still finds room for some delicious sandwiches. When we think of Italian sandwiches, we tend to think of the Italian-inspired ones that prevail in the United States: The kind that piles meatballs in a sub or pours Italian dressing on some provolone and calls it authentic. However, here we're talking about the real deal, people. Sandwiches like the tramezzino, the piadina, and the porchetta di ariccia are all underrated offerings that rarely make it out of the country itself, and it's time to bring them to the masses.
Many Italian sandwiches, much like the rest of its food, are regional specialties. In Sicily, you're more likely to find the pani ca meusa or pane con la milza; In Livorno, you may well stumble across the 5e5; head to Naples and you'll discover the cuzzetiello. All of these sandwiches are as delicious as the last, and while some may challenge traditional tastes, they're definitely worth adding to your list next time you're backpacking around Italy.
1. Tramezzino
If you've ever been to Venice (and you've eaten somewhere that isn't a total tourist trap), you'll likely have spotted the tramezzino. These sandwiches are composed of soft white bread cut into triangles, into which all manner of ingredients are stuffed and served cold. Generally speaking, the fillings are pretty accessible, with ham and eggs and tuna and olives being pretty regular offerings. The tramezzino was invented in Italy, and allegedly took inspiration from classic British sandwiches — and while it may not have come to life in Venice itself, the damp climate is said to contribute to the bread's pillowy softness.
Tramezzini are a classic bar food: Throughout Venice, you'll find them on the menu virtually everywhere, and they provide an affordable treat when you're sipping on a beer or a glass of wine. It should be said that they're pretty filling and can be especially protein-rich, so you may want to avoid them before you're about to enjoy the city's other cuisine. Having said this, if you're on a budget, they can make a smart choice for lunch or an early evening meal.
2. Piadina
Of all the Italian sandwiches out there, the piadina is likely the most famous. This sandwich (which made it all the way to being an August Aldi Find) is most likely to be found in the Romagna region and is a classic street food that's been around since the Middle Ages. If you've never seen a piadina before, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's a gyro sandwich. This dish is made from an unleavened flatbread, which is folded in half around its ingredients. These ingredients can be virtually anything: Common fillings include sliced meats, cheeses, vegetables, salumi, fish, hummus, and even fruit. The most traditional choice, however, is a filling of squacquerone cheese, prosciutto, and arugula, which hits the spot on an umami level while also giving you some much-needed freshness.
What makes piadina stand out from other flatbread sandwiches is that the bread is traditionally flavored with lard. This gives it a rich note that makes this sandwich way more of a meaty affair, although non-lard-based breads are bound to be found in some of the trattorias that serve them. This sandwich is designed to be eaten there and then, and it's the perfect option to be chowed on while you're seeing the sights.
3. 5e5
When it comes to Italian sandwiches, the 5e5 has by far the punchiest name (after all, it's the only one with numbers in it, so it's gotta be special). It also has one of the most distinctive flavors out there. The 5e5 is a combination of bread and Livornese torta, a simple and utterly delicious specialty made from oil, water, and chickpea flour. The torta is baked in a wood-fired oven until it's crispy on the outside and pillowy in its center — and while it can be eaten on its own, the 5e5 stuffs it in between two slices of bread and serves it as a sandwich. Focaccia can be used, but French bread is by far the more delicious option, thanks to its crunchy exterior, which creates a textural explosion.
So, where does the 5e5 get its name from? The answer is simple: It's down to the price. Traditionally, the 5e5 used to cost a total of 10 cents: five for the bread, and five for the torta that's stuffed into it. Nowadays, it's slightly more expensive, but no less tasty. Although you can add other ingredients to it, it really is best on its own.
4. Lampredotto panino
Florence is famous for many things, but we tend to think of art and architecture first when we consider the city. In our opinion, you should be thinking about its food too — and the lampredotto panino. This sandwich is one of the staple dishes of the city, and one which you can find pretty much everywhere. The lampredotto panino, like many other sandwiches, developed from the need to use up scraps of different ingredients in an affordable and hearty way, and to feed the working and peasant classes of Florence.
Beware, though: This dish isn't for the faint-hearted. The name "lampredotto" refers to the filling's eel-like appearance, but what's actually inside it is a cow's stomach lining. These innards are boiled for several hours in a vegetable-based stock, to tenderize the protein and imbue it with loads of flavor. Then, the lampredotto panino is smothered with Florentine green sauce, made from a blitzed concoction of parsley, oil, and often garlic and chili. These two are stuffed into a crusty rosetta bun and sold from street food carts and cafés alike. Those who aren't used to eating cow innards might find it slightly challenging, but trust us: It's an experience like no other.
5. Pane con la milza
In many Italian sandwiches, you can see history. That's rarely as apparent as with the pane con la milza, a Sicilian sandwich which has been served since the Middle Ages. The story goes that the Jewish butcher population of Palermo used to construct this sandwich from the off-cuts that they'd take home at the end of the day in lieu of money. These off-cuts tended to be the offal, like the lungs, trachea, and spleen of the animals. The butchers would boil these pieces of meat, flavor them with lard, and combine them with cheese, and then tuck them into bread for a filling meal.
Thus, the pane con la milza was born. The name literally translates to "bread with spleen," but it can still be made with the other traditional offal that used to go in the sandwich. The key to pane con la milza is that the meat is sliced very thinly, to avoid any chewiness and to increase its maneuverability. It can also be freshened up at the end with a touch of lemon juice, which helps to cut through the sheer meatiness of the dish. Needless to say, vegetarians need not apply here.
6. Panuozzo di gragnano
Okay, now we're talking. A dish that's essentially a massive pizza in sandwich form? Sign us up! This is exactly what to expect from the panuozzo di gragnano, a sandwich that has a surprisingly modern history. This sandwich, which was invented in the Campanian town of Gragnano (hence its name), was first invented by pizzaiolo Guiseppe Mascolo.
Mascolo was looking to mix things up in his pizzeria and figure out an alternative form of the classic Neapolitan dish. He placed an elongated piece of pizza dough in his oven, producing what is essentially a paddle-shaped baguette, and then sliced it open and filled it with pancetta and mozzarella. A modern classic was born.
The panuozzo di gragnano can be found across Campania in loads of different forms and with a ton of alternative fillings — it's grown to be as diverse as pizza itself. Although you can probably order a full one yourself, it's worth bearing in mind that it's generally meant to serve between two to four people. As such, make sure you're taking a friend along with you; you're gonna need them.
7. Cuzzetiello
If you want to eat like a Neapolitan, you need to grab a cuzzetiello. This food sits somewhere between a sandwich, sub, and a bread bowl, and it's a classic in the coastal city, where it's especially common to eat it on Sundays accompanied by a hearty ragù sauce. The cuzzetiello is as rustic as sandwiches come: It's made by taking the heel of a loaf of bread, and scooping out the dough inside. Then, that chasm is filled to the brim with substantial ingredients, like meatballs, eggplant Parmigiana, or Neapolitan sausage and friarielli.
Cuzzetiello is a sandwich that speaks to the working history of the city: It's a dish that was made roughly, quickly, and to be as filling as possible. It's no surprise that it's still a popular dish amongst the city's population, and one that evokes memories of casual family lunches and on-the-fly eats with friends. This is a sandwich that will definitely satisfy you for the rest of the day while you sightsee, but don't try it just one time. One of the joys of the cuzzetiello is the wealth of different fillings that can go into it, so make sure you're noting down the combos that look the best in the sandwich shop windows you're walking past.
8. Puccia
Some Italian sandwiches are big, slightly overwhelming affairs that might cause you to need a nap after. Others are a little more, shall we say, light. The puccia is a good example of the latter. Also known as the puccia salentina, this sandwich is primarily found in Puglia, and is, as so many other sandwiches are in Italy, a street food. It's constructed from smaller bread rolls which are filled with fresh, summery toppings like tomatoes and anchovies, zucchini and pesto, or mushrooms, olives, and smoked cheese.
The puccia salentina's modern form was conceived in the 1970s, when pastry chef Giovanni Caccetta needed to find a way to use his off-cuts of bread dough. He decided to form them into smaller buns and bake them in a steamy oven, giving them a light, chewy, slightly crusty finish. Interestingly, though, this sandwich has a far longer history: The puccia was originally known as buccellatum, and was a dish made and eaten by Roman legionaries, who found it to be a convenient meal on the go. We'd imagine they didn't quite have the same sophisticated toppings you'll find in them today, though.
9. Pane e panelle
If you're in the market for an Italian sandwich that will fill you up in just a few bites, without resorting to copious amounts of meat and cheese, then the pane e panelle is for you. This Sicilian sandwich may look unassuming, with its small, sesame seed bun appearing as though it couldn't possibly fit that much into it. However, inside the sandwich sit panelle, fried chickpea flour fritters which are wildly filling and deeply delicious. These fritters are flavored simply with parsley, lemon juice, and salt.
The aim here isn't to make a sandwich that's trying to do too much at once, but rather a sandwich that does a few elements very well. Having said this, Sicilians aren't afraid to amp things up even further with this dish. You'll find pane panelle e crocchè on some menus, which is a pane e panelle topped with fried potato croquettes. Needless to say that if you're trying not to eat too many carbs, this is probably a sandwich you're going to want to skip. You can also grab the panelle on their own from most vendors, and eat them straight from a paper cone. Let's be real, though: We want the sandwich version.
10. Mozzarella in carrozza
You don't have to be a fluent Italian speaker to guess what's in this sandwich. The mozzarella in carrozza is a cheese-lover's dream lunch, and fans of a grilled cheese will love this amped-up version, which can typically be found in Naples. This sandwich consists of two pieces of crustless white bread, which are stuffed with thick slices of fresh mozzarella. The sandwich is then sliced in half, before being dredged in flour, dipped in egg, and then shallow-fried or deep-fried in a pan of hot oil. Some versions also cover the sandwich in breadcrumbs before frying it, for a crispy exterior.
This isn't the kind of sandwich you buy in advance and eat later. Like pizza, it's best served hot and freshly cooked, so you get the most out of your mozzarella cheese pull. Mozzarella in carrozza (which translates to "mozzarella in a carriage" — the carriage here being the bread, flour, and egg) can also be found throughout Lazio, and one of the best things about it is that you can also rustle it up at home pretty easily.
11. Porchetta di Ariccia panini
If you find yourself in the Ariccia region that sits southeast of Rome, then this sandwich is a must-try. A porchetta di Ariccia sandwich is stuffed with slices of herby, garlicky pork, produced by pigs in the area. The porchetta itself is traditionally made by spit-roasting entire deboned pig joints, although smaller operations may simply use a pork belly, loin, or shoulder. The skin-on cuts are seasoned heavily, but simply, and the skin itself crisps up and holds the moisture in the meat.
Porchetta di Ariccia isn't strictly reserved for use in sandwiches, but it's commonly stuffed into a panini. Doing this gives the porchetta's flavor a chance to shine through without too many other heavy, flavorful ingredients, and the panini makes it transportable and easy to scarf down while you're walking through the streets of Ariccia and the surrounding areas. There are plenty of other ways to serve this meat, though, and you may well find it on a plate with roasted potatoes or simply served with a leafy salad. If you're lucky enough to take some porchetta back to your self-catering apartment in the area, try whipping up a fusion dish of porchetta tacos.
12. Muffuletta
Okay, so here's the deal. If you're in Italy, you're unlikely to find a muffuletta, or anything resembling the famous sandwich, anywhere. This famous staple of New Orleans cuisine is pretty unlike any other Italian sandwiches, which tend to center around slightly harder, drier meats and cheeses, crustier bread, less layers, and a little less pickle-infused spice. However, it's undeniable that the muffuletta has Italian origins, and therefore should be considered in the pantheon of the country's sandwiches — even if its current version didn't come to life there.
The modern version of the muffuletta was invented by Salvatore Lupo, an immigrant from Sicily who moved to New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century. Lupo began making an Americanized version of a Sicilian sandwich made with muffuletta (which refers to the soft bread used) typically eaten on the Festa Dei Morti, or Day of the Dead. This sandwich was commonly stuffed with anchovies, tomatoes, oregano, and cheese. Lupo, however, tweaked the recipe for his new audience, instead incorporating olives, giardiniera, and sliced meats, as well as the abundant layers that make the muffuletta stand out in a crowd today. Head to Sicily today, and you may well find muffuletta buns or loaves in the local bakeries, with muffuletta sandwiches made from them — but you'll have to head to Louisiana to try this version.
13. Tiella di Gaeta
Head to Gaeta, the seaside city in Lazio, and you'll find more than just Roman ruins and sweeping views of the city. You'll also find varied cuisine that reflects the history of the coastal region and its combination of ingredients from both land and sea. One dish that demonstrates this is tiella di Gaeta, a kind of pizza-sandwich hybrid that's generally served in small slices. Tiella di Gaeta takes vegetables from the countryside around the city and octopus from the sea it straddles, and puts them both in pizza dough stuffed into a pie dish. This is then crowned with another piece of dough, and the whole thing is baked until cooked and golden.
Tiella di Gaeta can also be made in more of a traditional sandwich shape, with the filling stuffed into flat discs and cut into halves or quarters. This allows it to be eaten on the go more easily. Having said this, the deeper, pie-like version is also eminently portable, due to the fact that the filling isn't particularly saucy. It's this portability that makes it such a winner as a street food, ideally one munched on while you gaze out to sea and watch the boats bob in the distance, the breeze teasing through your hair ... Excuse us while we book some flights to Italy.