Grilled Vegetables and Pesto Sandwich

I have a thing for grilled vegetables on my sandwich. Whenever I go to sandwich shops, I pretty much always look for the same kind of sandwich. Grilled vegetables, a spread of pesto, some fresh mozzarella and if I am really feeling up to it, some grilled chicken.

Tonight, I wanted to keep things relatively simple and leave the chicken out. I was very excited to finally try to make this at home and I was very pleased with the results. I ended up with 8 sandwiches (6 of them wrapped and ready for my husband for his lunches). I grilled my vegetables on a cast iron grill but I think in the future, it would be easier and faster to broil the veggies in the oven. It was definitely worth the wait and my husband and I really enjoyed our dinner.

Ingredients:

1 small Eggplant

2 Zucchini

1 small red onion

2 loaves of Italian bread

Basil Pesto

(your favorite recipe or mine – I made mine with pine nuts this time)

Fresh mozzarella

2 tomatoes

2 red bell peppers

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Set a rack in your oven  close to the broiler (You must be able fit the red bell peppers on that rack and have 2-3 inches to spare)
2. Place bell peppers on an aluminum foiled tray and blacken the bell peppers under the broiler, turning every 5 minutes until the peppers are blackened.
3. Place bell peppers in a large plastic bag and seal the bag. Let them sit for at least 5-10 minutes to steam.
4. Remove the skins of the peppers and any of the stems and inside seeds.
5. Chop bell peppers into smaller pieces.
6. Slice Eggplant, zucchini, red onion and tomatoes into thin slices (no more than 1/4 inch thick)
7. Slice mozzarella into think slices as well.
8. Lightly coat the eggplant and zucchini with olive oil, salt and pepper
9. Grill/Broiler the eggplants and zucchini (about 4 minutes each side) until they are cooked through
10. Grill/broil red onions
11. Slice Italian bread so that the top and bottom halves are still connected at one side.
12. Spread pesto sauce on both sides of the inside of the bread.
13. Place your vegetables and cheese (I did eggplant first, then zucchini, red bell peppers, tomatoes, mozzarella and red onions)
14. Enjoy!!!

So, what is your favorite sandwich?