Roasted Chicken,Parmesan and Sundried Tomato Sandwich

I have a long and insignificant history with the Pan Chancho Bakery/Cafe.  In 1995 I started going to the Bakery to pick up a sandwich and a salad and kept going until my return to university in 1999 .  My all time second favorite sandwich was a Smoked Turkey Sandwich with Chipotle Mayo and Old Cheddar on Multigrain Bread.  My favorite was the Chicken Sandwich.  When the Pan Chancho Cookbook came out one of the first things I looked for was recipes for my favorite sandwiches and I was both disappointed and elated.  The Smoked Turkey sandwich was there but I didn't find the Roasted Chicken Sandwich.  Over the years I taken a few stabs at recreating the sandwich and the sandwich has evolved a little bit.  At it's base though the Roasted Chicken Sandwich really was one of the best early offerings from Pan Chancho. 

One of my first assignments as an engineer was to accompany my boss as he did the final site review on the new Pan Chancho Restaurant.  I have to admit getting a chance to look behind the scenes at my favorite restaurant was a great start to a career as an engineer.

Roasted Chicken Parmesan and Sundried Tomato Sandwiches

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
1/4 tsp chopped garlic
olive oil

4 chicken breasts
4 tbsp of bread crumbs
4 tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
small block of parmigiano reggiano
sourdough bread

Pre-heat your oven to 325F.  Combine the grated parmesan, smoke paprika and bread crumbs in a bag. Place the chicken breasts in the bag and shake until the breasts are coated.  Place on a broiler pan in the oven until the chicken reaches a safe internal temperature.  Remove from the oven and refrigerate overnight.

In a blender combine the sun-dried tomatoes garlic and oil.  Process until the the tomatoes are coarsely chopped but not pureed.

Slice the chicken breasts about 1/8" to 1/4" thick and place on sliced sourdough bread, thinly slice the parmigiano reggiano and place on the sandwich along with a liberal smear of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and garlic mixture.  Slice the sandwich in half and serve.

Please note that for full flavor you want to serve the sandwich when the parmigiano reggiano reaches room temperature.  If the cheese is to cool the flavor is suppressed so room temperature sandwich is a happy sandwich.