The Accidental Locavore was reading a recipe recently for an extremely big, complicated sandwich, part of which included a “frico” with salami and provolone. Since we had some very attractive salami and some normal-looking provolone, it seemed like a good idea to go play in the kitchen. It’s not really much of a recipe (and if you’ve ever made fricos (Parmesan crisps), you’ll know just what to do), but you really need to have a Silpat.
- Thinly sliced salami
- Sliced provolone
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a hotel pan or baking sheet with a Silpat. Depending on the size of your salami, place 1-3 slices on the Silpat, and cover with a slice of cheese. Do this for as many as you want and/or can fit on the sheet. Bake until golden brown all around the edges, about 10 minutes (keep your eye on them). Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack over another baking sheet. Serve and enjoy!
My verdict: The original recipe had you doing them in a cast iron skillet or griddle — huge mistake! There’s just no way to remove them in one piece. I tried with a big spatula, a flexible one and then with the two together but it just made a mess. The cast iron griddle wasn’t much better, although it was easier to get at them (only to mess them up again). Then the light bulb went off over my head and I remembered how to do fricos; just plop them on a Silpat and put them in the oven. As you can see from the photos, that worked. To give myself a fighting chance, when I removed the pan from the oven I put the cooling rack on top of the Silpat, flipped the whole thing over, and carefully peeled off the Silpat. Finally, success! The other advantage with the Silpat is that you can make a bunch of them at once. You might be able to do them on a parchment paper-lined pan, but I haven’t tried it. I thought they’d be good to dress up a hamburger, or could be silly hors d’oeuvres. Thinly sliced pepperoni or chorizo would be interesting and you could use almost any kind of cheese (grated into a small pile if you can’t find it sliced). Chopping the salami might also help although it wouldn’t look as cool.
