Pressed Serrano and Cheese Sandwich Fingers with Truffle Aioli

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Barcelona's late-night bar sandwich, built like a grilled cheese but stacked with Spanish parts: paper-thin serrano ham, two melting cheeses, and a truffle aioli brushed on the inside of the bread so it perfumes the whole thing as it presses. Crusts trimmed, cut into four fingers, eaten hot enough to pull. Twelve minutes of skillet work for something that reads like a $19 tapas plate.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup good mayonnaise (Kewpie or Hellmann's)
• 1 small clove garlic, grated on a Microplane
• 2 tsp white truffle oil, or 2 tsp truffle paste
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 pinch fine sea salt

• 8 slices soft white sandwich bread (pain de mie or brioche pullman), thin-cut
• 4 oz Mahón cheese, coarsely grated (or young Gouda)
• 3 oz low-moisture mozzarella, coarsely grated
• 4 oz serrano ham, sliced paper-thin
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

• Flaky sea salt
• 1 tsp finely chopped chives (optional)

Instructions

1. Make the aioli: whisk the mayonnaise, grated garlic, truffle oil, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl until smooth and glossy. Taste — it should smell strongly of truffle, since the heat will mute it. Let it sit 10 minutes while you build the sandwiches so the garlic softens into the mayo.
2. Toss the grated Mahón and mozzarella together in a bowl so the two cheeses are evenly mixed. Grating rather than slicing is what gets you a fast, even melt in a sandwich this thin.
3. Lay the 8 bread slices on a board. Brush the inside face of every slice with a thin, edge-to-edge layer of truffle aioli — about 2 teaspoons per slice. Reserve any leftover aioli for dipping.
4. Build 4 sandwiches: scatter a generous handful of the cheese mix over 4 slices, keeping it within about 1/4 inch of the edges. Drape 1 oz of serrano over each, ruffling the slices into loose folds rather than laying them flat — the air pockets keep the ham from going leathery. Top with the rest of the cheese, then close with the remaining bread, aioli side down. Press each sandwich firmly with your palm.
5. Butter the outside of each sandwich thinly on both faces, all the way to the corners.
6. Set a large heavy skillet or cast-iron pan over medium-low heat and add the olive oil, swirling to coat. When it shimmers (about 2 minutes), lay in as many sandwiches as fit without touching — usually two.
7. Press the sandwiches with a second smaller skillet, a foil-wrapped brick, or a bacon press. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, checking at 3, until the underside is a deep even gold and the bread has compressed to about half its height.
8. Flip, replace the weight, and cook another 3 to 4 minutes until the second side matches and cheese is visibly molten at the edges. If the bread is browning before the cheese melts, drop the heat to low and cover the pan for 1 minute. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches.
9. Transfer each sandwich to a board and let it rest 1 minute — cutting immediately will let the cheese run out. Trim all four crusts with a sharp serrated knife, cutting straight down in a single sawing stroke.
10. Cut each trimmed sandwich into 4 equal fingers. Stand them upright on a plate, sprinkle the cut edges with flaky salt and chives, and serve at once with the reserved truffle aioli alongside.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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