Handcrafted Gondola

• While the term “gondola bread” most often appears at Italian-American restaurants, you can take the taste home by making gondola bread in your own kitchen. Kelly Donlea, cooking instructor at Organizing Dinner, recommends adding about a quarter a cup of sugar per loaf to your standard dough recipe of yeast, warm water, flour, oil, eggs and salt. Let the gondola dough rise for about 1 ½ hours in a greased bowl, then shape it into oblong loaves -- go with smaller shapes to make individual-sized sandwich loaves that resemble their restaurant counterparts -- and let it rise on a greased and floured baking sheet for another hour. Bake the dough at about 350 degrees Fahrenheit for roughly 20 to 25 minutes. The final product features a gently crisp, golden-hued crust and a light, soft interior.

The Classic Sandwich

• Stateside, gondola bread derives its fame from the the Italian-American restaurants that offer gondola sandwiches stuffed with plentiful cold cuts. A typical gondola sandwich features salami, ham, tomatoes and American or mozzarella cheese with optional condiments such as mayonnaise, Italian dressing or mustard piled on to a small loaf of gondola bread. Chefs usually cut an individually sized loaf of gondola bread lengthwise, leaving a "hinge" on one side, and hollow out the bottom part of the loaf, making a sort of bread pocket. Traditionally, gondola sandwiches are served over-stuffed, with ingredients pouring out of the open side.

Experiments with Gondolas

• Essentially, any Italian-themed, club-style deli sandwich served on sweet gondola bread qualifies as a gondola sandwich, so feel free to experiment. For a more authentic Italian take on the sandwich, add roasted red peppers, provolone cheese, black olives, peperoncini, pepperoni or oregano. The turkey and Swiss cheese gondola sandwich, often topped with green peppers, serves as a perennial alternative option. Likewise, simply swap out the ham with turkey to cut back on fat content, or go vegetarian with mozzarella, cucumber, red onions, green peppers, thick tomatoes and romaine lettuce.

Life Outside of Sandwiches

• Bread serves as an essential side for many Italian dishes, and gondola bread doesn't break this rule. In addition to acting as a sandwich bread, gondola bread lends itself as a side for virtually any tomato sauce-based Italian pasta and soups such as minestrone, meatball soup or Italian wedding soup, where the bread's sweet tinge offsets the soup's savory flavor. Eaten on its own, the fluffy texture of gondola bread jells particularly well with soft, spreadable butter. When toasted, this type of bread makes for a lighter tasting take on classic garlic bread.