One of Seattle’s premier catering companies, Gourmondo, shares this delightful (and delicious!) story about how their most popular chicken sandwiches came to be. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
The Story of the Olivia Pesto Chicken Sandwich
Our founder’s daughter, Olivia, joined our café team when she was 16. After talking with some regular customers, she felt we needed a pesto chicken sandwich. After many conversations with her mom and what she felt was slow progress on the R&D front, Olivia decided to take matters into her own hands and create a prototype of the sandwich. She presented the sandwich to the Gourmondo chef team for consideration, and the Olivia sandwich was born. It still bears her name today and is one of our most popular sandwiches. While we make our own basil and tomato pestos, one of our local grocery partners, PCC, carries several delicious options should you wish to use store-bought. When roasting the chicken breast, we lightly dust it with a spice blend called Svaneti salt. This blend comes directly from World Spice at the Pike Place Market. You are also welcome to use your favorite poultry seasoning.
The Olivia Sandwich
Makes 4 sandwiches
Olivia Gallagher, 2016
4 each Rustic bread rolls, split
4 ounces Provolone cheese, sliced
4 ounces Mozzarella cheese, deli-style loaf, sliced
½ cup Sundried Tomato Pesto (homemade or your favorite store-bought brand)
3 ounces Fresh Baby Spinach
2 ounces Sweet Basil, fresh, leaves picked from stems
12 ounces Roasted chicken breast, seasoned, cooled
1/4 cup Mayonnaise
1/4 cup Basil Pesto (homemade or your favorite store-bought brand
Fold together the mayonnaise and the basil pesto. Split the Telera rolls in half. Spread the first half of each roll with the pesto mayo. Spread the second half of each roll with the tomato pesto. Shingle 3 ounces of the sliced chicken breast on the bottom half of each sandwich. Place ½ ounce of basil leaves on top of the chicken on each sandwich. Place ¾ ounces (a small handful) of spinach leaves on top of the basil. Drape a slice of provolone and a slice of mozzarella over the spinach. Set your oven to 400 degrees and place a rack in the center. Bake the sandwiches on a cookie sheet, open-faced, until the cheese begins to melt and the sandwich warms slightly, about 8-9 minutes. Put the top of the roll on and serve immediately.
