This easy mortadella sandwich is one of the best sandwiches I've ever had or made, hands down. I first enjoyed it at a renowned sandwich shop in Rome, and then recreated it in my own kitchen. Make it yourself, close your eyes, and imagine yourself on a glorious Roman Holiday.
When I visited Rome in October 2025, I sought out some of the best sandwiches to try. My favorite hands down comes from the same spot that Bobby Flay gets his favorite sandwich in Rome, La Vita è Un Mozzico.
This hole-in-the-wall spot is run by 2nd and 3rd generation owners Luca and Claudio (uncle and nephew).
Take a number and wait your turn before stepping into the tiny storefront. Revel in the gorgeous cornucopia of deli meats, cheeses, and colorful sandwich fillings. Gape in awe at the mountains of fresh bread. The eagle has landed. It's time for lunch.
There is no menu. Your mind is the menu. They will make you a sandwich with whatever you choose from the display and then weigh your sandwich to price it out. It really is a choose-your-own-adventure locale and I'm here for it.
My pick was exquisite though slightly different from Bobby's, which features porchetta as the protein. Mine combined some of my favorite things into one very Italian sandwich.
Crisp pizza bianca is stuffed with delicate mortadella, gooey stracciatella cheese, herbaceous basil pesto, and pungent sun-dried tomatoes. As far as I'm concerned, it's the best sandwich in Rome.
I walked a few blocks from La Vita è Un Mozzico and enjoyed mine in Piazza del Popolo. Without a doubt, I can honestly say this incredible mortadella sandwich falls on my list of top 5 favorite sandwiches I've ever had. Now let's make it at home!
Ingredient notes
- Pizza Bianca: This is bread and not "white pizza." It's a traditional Roman flatbread and it makes for incredible sandwiches! I have a recipe for pizza bianca so you can make it yourself if you can't find somewhere to buy it. It's actually extremely easy to make and requires very little skill. Alternatively, you can always try a different type of bread you enjoy, but it won't be the same.
- Basil Pesto: Of course homemade pesto is always a great choice, but if fresh basil isn't in season, try to find the best quality prepared pesto you can to make this recipe. I purchased homemade pesto (in addition to the mortadella and stracciatella) from Venda Ravioli, a popular local Italian grocery store that has been open since 1938!
- Mortadella: Mortadella is my all time favorite cold cut! No contest. It traditionally contains pistachios, but if you're allergic to nuts, you can look for a version without the pistachios.
- Stracciatella: This is a soft Italian cheese made from shredded fresh mozzarella strands mixed with heavy cream. It's most famously used as the filling inside burrata and is basically heaven in cheese form. If you can't find stracciatella, use torn burrata or even sliced fresh mozzarella cheese. Note that the stracciatella is quite wet and will make the sandwich drippy, but that's all part of what makes the texture so luscious inside this sandwich.
- Sun-dried Tomatoes: So these weren't in the Bobby Flay sandwich but I love me some sun-dried tomatoes and think they are a great complement to everything else in the sandwich. I know they can be a polarizing ingredient, so you can skip them if you prefer.
How to make it
Note: The measurements in the recipe are for 1 rectangular sandwich, but you can multiply to make as many sandwiches as you want. In the photos I'm assembling 2 sandwiches at once.
Heat up a panini/sandwich press.
Meanwhile, cut open a piece of pizza bianca in half along its equator using a serrated knife. On the bottom half spread pesto and arrange sliced mortadella on top.
Next add the sun-dried tomatoes and finally the stracciatella cheese.
Place the top of the bread back on top to close the sandwich.
Heat the mortadella sandwich in the panini press until warmed through and the bread has crisped up, about 3 minutes. Enjoy immediately!
Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
Expert tips
At the restaurant, they use a piece of folded parchment paper to line their panini press for heating each sandwich. I'm pretty sure this is for cleanliness/sanitation. This way they can continue to make sandwiches by just changing out the parchment rather than having to cool and clean the machine if something drips in there. You shouldn't need to do this when making this sandwich at home.
If you want slightly smaller mortadella sandwiches, cut your pizza bianca into six 4 ½-by-4 ½ inch squares instead of four 4 ½-by-6 ½-inch rectangles. The filling amounts for each square sandwich using the aforementioned dimensions would be roughly 4 teaspoons pesto, 45 grams (about 3 ½ slices) mortadella, 2 teaspoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and 65 grams (⅓ cup) stracciatella cheese.
Variations
- Replace the mortadella with porchetta (Bobby Flay-style) or another yummy Italian cold-cut of your choice
- Replace the basil pesto with pistachio cream
- Omit the sun-dried tomatoes if you don't like them, or try some thinly sliced fresh tomato instead
- Replace the stracciatella with sliced fresh mozzarella or torn burrata
- Switch out the pizza bianca for sliced country-style bread, focaccia, ciabatta, or baguette (the latter options may not toast as easily so you can just enjoy them as is, as a cold sandwich)
Other recipes you may like
- Pizza Bianca (Roman Flatbread)
- Pan con Bistec (Sanguich de Miami-inspired Cuban Steak Sandwich)
- Grilled Cheese with Tomato and Pesto
- Don Gondola Italian Grilled Cheese
- Rigatoni all' Amatriciana
- Spaghetti alla Carbonara
- Authentic Bucatini Cacio e Pepe (Roman Cheese and Pepper Pasta)
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also follow me on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
The Best Mortadella Sandwich in Rome (Mortadella, Stracciatella, Pesto, and Sun-dried Tomatoes on Pizza Bianca)
Ingredients
- 1 piece pizza bianca (approximately 4 ½-by-6 ½-inches) ¼ of a pizza bianca
- 2 tablespoons basil pesto
- 65 grams (5 thin slices) mortadella
- 1 tablespoon chopped or sliced sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and blotted dry
- 100 grams (½ cup) stracciatella cheese
Instructions
- Heat up a panini/sandwich press.
- Meanwhile, cut open the pizza bianca in half along its equator using a serrated knife. On the bottom half spread the pesto. Arrange sliced mortadella on top, followed by sun-dried tomatoes and finally the stracciatella cheese. Place the top of the bread back on top to close the sandwich.
- Heat the sandwich in the panini press until warmed through and the bread has crisped up, about 3 minutes. Enjoy immediately!
Notes
- If you want slightly smaller sandwiches, cut your pizza bianca into six 4 ½-by-4 ½ inch squares instead of four 4 ½-by-6 ½-inch rectangles. The filling amounts for each square sandwich using the aforementioned dimensions would be roughly 4 teaspoons pesto, 45 grams (about 3 ½ slices) mortadella, 2 teaspoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and 65 grams (⅓ cup) stracciatella cheese.
- Variations
- Replace the mortadella with porchetta (Bobby Flay-style) or another yummy Italian cold-cut of your choice
- Replace the basil pesto with pistachio cream
- Omit the sun-dried tomatoes if you don't like them, or try some thinly sliced fresh tomato instead
- Replace the stracciatella with sliced fresh mozzarella or torn burrata
- Switch out the pizza bianca for sliced country-style bread, focaccia, ciabatta, or baguette (the latter options may not toast as easily so you can just enjoy them as is, as a cold sandwich)
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
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