that’s awful neighbor like
Recipe: feta artichoke sandwich
I’m going next door… to Utah. It’s just a quick trip for the Evo Conference taking place in Park City. I’ll be teaching a photography workshop with a panel of supah fine laydeez including the funniest one of all. Additionally, I’ll be shooting Todd and Diane in action during their photography workshop at the conference. I guarantee they will have some good beta to share – which is why it’s so awesome that they’re teaching Food and Light with me and Matt Wright in Boulder this summer! Solid.
utah back in 2005… hopefully it will be tens of degrees cooler this time
Our monsoon season is here. Every afternoon the clouds build like a furrowed brow on the sky. In the distance there is a low rumble and a breeze begins to pick its way through the aspen leaves. We typically get a few strikes of lightning out yonder, then closer. The boom of the thunder nears until that big flash overhead and a crack so loud you feel it in your bones. There is the rush of air from the updraft and then the rain – glorious rain for the parched ground – drenches everything. I love it.
zing! (that one was kinda close)
Up here in the mountains, afternoon thunderstorms in summer are the norm. The orographics make for some incredible weather. However, down on the flats, the topography or lack thereof creates some dramatic weather in its own right. As the storms clear off and head east from our house, I watch with longing as the thunderheads billow high and set up pretty light shows for my friends in Boulder and Denver. You know what else they have down in Boulder and Denver that I long for? Snarf’s. It’s a sandwich shop. My favorite sandwich shop in town. [Of course, if you’re in Williamsburg, that would have to be the Cheese Shop which makes THE best sandwiches. EVER.] If sandwiches are my favorite class of food and Snarf’s is my favorite sandwich joint in Boulder, then that sort of says something about their sandwiches. But I don’t go to Boulder every day and well – you know where this is going…
bread, artichokes, feta
pickles, prosciutto, lettuce, tomato, pesto
I’m hooked on Snarf’s. I even say it the way Snarf says his name in Thundercats. Ever watch Thundercats? I was an 80s cartoon junkie. Anyway… these sandwiches are so good that I’m willing to wait the THIRTY minutes it takes for the staff to slap it together. Everyone is willing to wait the THIRTY minutes which is why there is a line out the door at lunchtime. After standing around for my second thirty minutes, watching the staff and marveling at how slow they could possibly be, I punched their number into my phone. Now I call (way) ahead. Problem solved. I usually get the pastrami and Swiss – hold the onions, please. Snarf’s size. Toasted with mayo, mustard, pickles, hot peppers. That’s because it took too long for my old iphone1 to load the menu so I could peruse my other choices. I go with what works. But my buddy Jason sings the praises of Snarf’s feta and artichoke sandwich. I happened to have both feta and artichoke at home the other day.
choppy choppy
pesto is the new mayo over here
There is just no way that this would be anything shy of OMFG! Sandwiches are brilliant like that. Put good stuff in and get a phenomenal sandwich out. Magic. It’s like magic. Be sure to use good bread. Ideally, you’d want some lovely baguette that is crusty on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth soft on the inside. That’s one thing I crave about a Snarf’s sandwich – the bread is amazeballs.
some feta
happy prosciutto
I deviated from the standard Snarf’s sandwich model because I needed to use up the pesto and Jeremy likes neither mustard nor mayonnaise. Pesto is good friends with artichoke and feta. They go way back. No problems there. It’s a salty-tangy lovefest. Seeing as lunch is my favorite meal and sandwiches are my favorite class of food, you must believe me when I say this sandwich for lunch is me running a victory lap draped in the flag of my home country, Happylandia.
pickle love (clap your hands!)
welcome to happylandia (not pictured: tomato – because this was Jeremy’s sandwich)
Feta Artichoke Sandwich
[print recipe]
inspired by Snarfs
good bread like a crusty baguette
pesto
feta
canned artichoke hearts, sliced
prosciutto
dill pickle, sliced lengthwise
lettuce
tomato (optional)
Slice the bread in half lengthwise. Spread pesto on the bottom half of the bread and toast it if you desire. Layer feta (so it sticks to the pesto), then artichoke hearts, then prosciutto, pickles, lettuce, and tomato (optional). Top with the other half of the bread.
July 7th, 2011 at 12:01 am
What a splendid sandwich! Great filling. So tasty.
Cheers,
Rosa
July 7th, 2011 at 3:20 am
The sandwich looks great but I am bummed I am missing you at Evo! But…the consolation prize is that I am going to Mexico City with Penny de los Santos and leave in 24 hrs! Just posted about it.
I will see you and Todd, Diane, and gang though in just a few weeks at F & L.
The next couple weeks of my life is seriously as cool as it’s been…in years :) I just wish that Evo didnt overlap with my other trip!
See you soon!
July 7th, 2011 at 8:48 am
I went to school in Boulder and Snarfs is probably the thing I miss most about that town. Sooo delicious.
July 7th, 2011 at 8:50 am
It’s a little overcast today so maybe you brought some cooler weather with you. Hope I get to see you while you’re here!
July 7th, 2011 at 9:52 am
Looks delicious! Love the pesto, I need to try that on a sandwich. And that lightening picture is awesome!
July 7th, 2011 at 10:09 am
looks delicious. Just made some bruscettas with artichoke yesterday. Should have done this!! yum
July 7th, 2011 at 11:04 am
How are you guys already getting monsoons up there, but southern NM is still dry as a tinderbox?! It must be some rain shadow deal with the mountains. Aargh. Need rain.
I loooove sandwiches and artichokes and pesto and feta.
July 7th, 2011 at 11:28 am
Oh man, the artichoke/feta is my favorite snarf’s sandwich! I’m an east coaster but headed back to boulder for a few days at the end of july and I can’t wait to get my hands on another one. Until then, I’ll make your version at home
July 7th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
I live down in Fremont County and we desperately need the rain! But at least the mountains are getting it, much less fire danger that way.
I have never been to Snarf’s but I will add it to my Boulder list!
July 7th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Wow, that looks insanely good.
July 7th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
It’s like you made this sandwich for me; it has all of my favourite things! Artichokes, pesto, feta, prosciutto, gah, there’s drool on my keyboard again.
July 7th, 2011 at 7:56 pm
Snarf! Snarf! ;)
July 7th, 2011 at 8:52 pm
Ahh! The artichoke feta sandwich at Snarf’s is my favorite sandwich in the world, so that’s what I was thinking about when I clicked the link to your blog (I’m a Coloradan transplanted to DC). And then you offered a recipe! We’re soul mates. Clearly.
July 7th, 2011 at 9:27 pm
Over at Foodgawker, I saw this and thought: yum! And “wow, that’s a precision-cut pickle.”
Should have known it was you. Knife skills. I believe the word is…”amazeballs”?
July 8th, 2011 at 6:49 am
My heart hurts everytime you mention The Cheese Shop! I grew up in Williamsburg and went to W&M. I have tried many times to replicate my fav Cheese Shop sandiwch, smoked turkey on french with cheddar cheese and sprouts. And OF COURSE house dressing. I always even get an extra side of it for fabulous dipping. My attempts pale in comparison to the real thing but at least I don’t feel completely empty inside.
July 9th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Wow, those photos are amazing! I am going through a recent obsession with feta cheese so this sandwich sounds delish – but I’ve never actually tried artichoke before(!!) – for some reason it scares me. I’ll have to just do it one day and I bet I’ll love it. Lovely sandwich. :)
July 10th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
OH MY TASTEBUDS. I. Have. To. Have. This. Sandwich. My disgestive tract feels so, so very sad that I just had a grilled cheese and I have a supper to attend in a couple of hours. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will conquer the feta artichoke sandwich. Mark my words. :)
July 12th, 2011 at 11:00 pm
My husband would love love this sandwich.
July 13th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Thanks for the recommendation! It came just in time as my fiance and I were in Denver last weekend on holiday! It is just as good as you made it sound and better still since our sandwiches where made and ready for us in just 5 minutes! High praises for the fantastic meatball sub from us :)
July 17th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
Sarah – hell yes!!
Kalyn – so wonderful that we got to spend some time together xoxo
Bridget – it’s been a strange (la niΓ±a) pattern. My aunt is in Northern NM and they’re dry as a tinderbox. We’ve been getting daily thunderstorms with lots of rain – flash flooding in Boulder even! I hope you guys get some relief soon.
Spike – sweet!
Alyson – those are some of my favorites too, so it should make a great sandwich ‘natch :)
Dani – :)
Fiona – ha ha, thanks girl!
Shelley – I know what you mean. My friends who live back home mention Cheese Shop sandwiches on FB and it hurts me to the core ;)
Katie – oooh, artichoke is worth trying. Definitely!
Laura – WOW!!! 5 minutes? That’s a record!
July 18th, 2011 at 12:37 am
I’m not funny. I’m just drawn that way. ;)
August 14th, 2011 at 7:17 pm
I made this for my grandparents who, at almost 100 years old each, aren’t given to “fancy” food. They loved it. Today I found a precious Cherokee Purple and made it again….thanks for sharing this!
February 11th, 2013 at 9:15 pm
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