Bottom of the Basket Sandwich
Created by Amy Angelo
Weekly Winner #11
April 3rd - April 9th, 2010

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 Large	Crusty Italian Bread
1/2 Jar	Kalamata Olives
1/2 Jar	Green Stuffed Olives with Pimento
3 Medium	Oso Sweet Onions (sliced)
3 sprigs	Fresh Thyme
2 4oz. pkg	Goat Cheese or 1/2 pound Fresh Goat Cheese
To Taste	Salt & Pepper
	Extra Virgin Olive Oil
	Fresh Arugula Greens

Preparation

Halve the Italian bread horizontally and remove some of the bread from the top slice. Set aside.

Take ½ jar of kalamata olives, and ½ jar of green olives and chop them together finely. Or, you can put them into a food processor and pulse a few times so that they are finely chopped and combined well.

Spread the olive mixture on the bottom half of the sandwich bread.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add onions and thyme , season with salt and pepper. Cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions have softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Uncover; cook until onions are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Set aside.

Back to your sandwich, slice goat cheese (if in a log shape) and place cheese on top of the olive mix. If it is softer in texture, you can carefully spread it on top of the olive mix.

Spoon Onions on top of the goat cheese layer.

Pile arugula on top of the onion layer (it will look like a bit much, but don't worry, it will all be compressed)!

Sprinkle the inside of the top piece of bread with the extra virgin olive oil and place on top of sandwich. Press down on the top of sandwich and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.

Place sandwich in the refrigerator overnight with a heavy pan or foil wrapped brick on top. In the morning, pack the sandwich first, in the bottom of the basket. The weight of the other items will further press the sandwich and marry all of the flavors inside!

Cut into 6 large slices and serve!