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
(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:
- 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)
- 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.
- Place bell peppers in a large plastic bag and seal the bag. Let them sit for at least 5-10 minutes to steam.
- Remove the skins of the peppers and any of the stems and inside seeds.
- Chop bell peppers into smaller pieces.
- Slice Eggplant, zucchini, red onion and tomatoes into thin slices (no more than 1/4 inch thick)
- Slice mozzarella into think slices as well.
- Lightly coat the eggplant and zucchini with olive oil, salt and pepper
- Grill/Broiler the eggplants and zucchini (about 4 minutes each side) until they are cooked through
- Grill/broil red onions
- Slice Italian bread so that the top and bottom halves are still connected at one side.
- Spread pesto sauce on both sides of the inside of the bread.
- Place your vegetables and cheese (I did eggplant first, then zucchini, red bell peppers, tomatoes, mozzarella and red onions)
- Enjoy!!!
So, what is your favorite sandwich?