cooking class 101

Now that I've finally (hopefully) solved the mystery of Meyer's refusal to sleep through the night, I've started to come out of my funk. Which I probably shouldn't even have been in a funk to begin with, if I look around me and see how fortunate I am. My husband, kids and I are healthy and fulfilled and we really couldn't ask for anything more.

Logan has been participating in a cooking class all summer. There isn't a kids cooking class offered in our area, so a few girlfriends and I took on the challenge of creating our own schedule this summer. So for 8 Mondays, we alternated hosting fun cooking classes for all our kids. It couldn't have worked out better and gave us something for the moms and kids to look forward to each Monday! Our turn was yesterday and after racking my brain trying to figure out something fun to do that hadn't been done yet, I finally settled on a menu. Of course, I had the mom's menu planned out before the kids, totally typical of me.

The kids had a blast making their own turkey meatballs...at least the ones who really dug in and got their hands dirty! They dipped the finished product into white and red sauce and ate up some tortellini to go with it. For dessert, they made grilled cream cheese, nutella and banana sandwiches. Of course the most fun the kids had was making a supreme mess of the basement and Logan's bedroom.

I got the inspiration for my moms menu last week. I ran some kid-free errands and decided to partake in a kid-free lunch at a restaurant I was dying to try- Labriola Bakery & Cafe. I had a hard time deciding on my meal, but couldn't pass up this delicious sounding sandwich:

Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken on Olive Oil & Sea Salt Ciabatta
Oven Roasted Tomatoes, Spinach, Aged Provolone Cheese & Pesto Mayonnaise

Sounds amazing, right? Believe you me, it tasted even better. I wouldn't have been surprised if I received a couple of strange looks from fellow diners...I enjoyed every last bite. The best sandwich of my life.

So the decision for my moms menu was sealed... (trying to) recreate that sandwich. No recipe here, so here's what I did.

I brushed some olive oil on 2 slices of tuscan bread.
I made my own pesto and mixed it with some mayo and spread that on the other side. I put a slice of provolone cheese over that and layered fresh spinach leaves on top of that. Then the chicken. I pounded out a few chicken breasts and sliced them cutlet size. I drizzled olive oil all over and then generously sprinkled them with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. I wrapped each cutlet in a slice of prosciutto and roasted them, along with sliced tomato, in the oven for about 25 minutes @ 350. I topped the spinach with a cutlet and some tomatoes and topped the whole thing with the other slice of bread. I then pressed the sandwiches on the griddle and served them piping hot to my friends.

I did not know that a sandwich could taste that delicious, especially one that I made. Unbelieveable. I think my friends enjoyed them too, at least I hope so!