Bocadillo de longaniza y tortilla francesa (sausage and omelette sandwich)

I made this practice mini loaf the other day as an experiment born out of an experiment: I had made a coca with a focaccia dough made with my beer starter (and a couple of cans of Camden Hells lager instead of water), and I had set some dough aside to practice shaping it into a baguette, as I don’t have lots of experience with that type of shaping.

Loaf with focaccia dough
Loaf with focaccia dough

Then I was gathering ingredients to make an omelette, when I noticed there were two sausages in the fridge, and that gave me an even better idea:

Out with the cheese—in with the sausages!

Somehow seeing the sausages brought back to mind this classic merienda at my grandma’s during the darker months of winter: a sandwich with an omelette and a sausage. While we’d just have a Nocilla sandwich (the Spanish answer to Nutella) during summer, colder weather called for a hot sandwich.

My grandmother did not skimp on her meriendas, and neither did I with this sandwich:

I cooked the sausages first, then I cooked the omelette in the same pan so it would soak up all the oils and flavours from the sausages. I toasted the bread, and drizzled the halves very generously with olive oil.

You know you’ve achieved the pinnacle with this sandwich if oil and juices are dripping down your hands as you eat it, and I did achieve it. It was messy and utterly satisfying.

Even if there was a darker secret to this loaf…

Which is that I messed up when shaping it. I didn’t seal it properly on the last fold, and the underneath started to open while baking.

More proof of the “disaster”:

I didn’t know what to expect inside: would it all be a big fool’s crumb? I think the starter wasn’t quite active enough.

Still it was quite aerated, even if the distribution of holes wasn’t super regular. Maybe it was due to my folding and shaping? Maybe we need to call the Crumb Forensics Service! 😂

And you know what? The bread was actually really tasty and it was a fabulous transport for the dinner.

I am still very smug about it! 😏 ✌🏼

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