Making Carmine’s Spiedini alla Romana – My Afternoon Project
Alright, so I got this craving, right? Been thinking about that Spiedini alla Romana from Carmine’s for a while now. You know the one – that cheesy, buttery bread thing on a stick. Couldn’t shake it. So, I figured, why not try making it myself? Cleared my afternoon schedule, rolled up my sleeves, and got down to it.
First off, had to gather the goods. Dug around for some decent white bread, the sturdy kind, not the floppy sandwich loaf. Found some mozzarella – had to be the fresh kind, packed in water, none of that dry shredded stuff. Pulled out butter, capers, and those little salty anchovy fillets. Yeah, anchovies. Sounds weird maybe, but they’re key. Grabbed some olive oil too.
Getting Things Ready
Okay, prep time. I started with the bread. Sliced it maybe half an inch thick, something like that. Then, very important, I trimmed off all the crusts. You just gotta. Makes the texture way better when it fries up. Set those slices aside.
Next up, the flavor base. Melted a good chunk of butter in a small pan over low heat. Didn’t want it to brown, just melt. While that was going, I minced up a few anchovy fillets and a spoonful of capers. Tossed those into the melted butter. Let it hang out on low heat for a few minutes, just to get those flavors mingling. Some people add garlic, but I kept it simple this time. Gave it a stir.
Then I took my bread slices and gave them a quick dip in that anchovy-caper butter. Both sides. Didn’t want them soaked through and falling apart, just nicely coated. Laid them out on a tray.
Putting it all Together and Cooking
Now for the assembly. This part’s kinda fun. Took a slice of the buttered bread, topped it with a nice thick slice of mozzarella, then put another slice of buttered bread on top. Made these little bread-and-cheese stacks. Repeated until I ran out of bread or cheese, whichever came first.
Then came the skewers. I used plain old wooden ones. Carefully threaded the bread-and-cheese stacks onto the skewers. Pushed maybe three or four onto each skewer, snugging them up against each other. You want them packed fairly tight so they hold together when cooking.
Time to cook! I decided to pan-fry them. Got my trusty skillet out, added a mix of olive oil and a bit more butter. Got it nice and hot, shimmering but not smoking. Laid the skewers down gently in the pan. Oh man, the sizzle. Cooked them for a few minutes on each side. Had to turn them carefully with tongs. You’re looking for that perfect golden-brown color and, crucially, the cheese melting and getting gooey inside. You’ll see it start to ooze out the sides a bit. That’s the magic happening.
Once they looked crispy and golden all around, I pulled them out and let them rest on some paper towels for just a second to drain off any extra oil.
The Result
Served them up immediately while they were still hot and melty. That first bite – crispy, buttery bread giving way to stretchy, warm mozzarella, with that salty, tangy punch from the anchovies and capers in the background. Seriously good. It’s not fancy food, just straightforward and satisfying. Felt pretty good about this attempt. Not exactly Carmine’s giant portion, but it definitely scratched that itch. A successful kitchen adventure, I’d say.
