Toasted Sandwich with Char-grilled Veggies, Pesto and Rocket
I don’t know if I ever mentioned that I’m on a low protein diet due to a health condition so there’s not a lot of meat in my cooking.
Last time I talked about the char-grilled veggies which could be used in infinite number of dishes such as salads, pasta, sandwiches etc. I’m showing you my favourite toasted sandwich recipe.
We start with a loaf of foccacia or Turkish bread (or a part of a loaf if you have a big loaf!) and slice it in two halves. Spread a layer of coriander pesto I bought at a nice deli in Tanglin Mall. I’m sure it’s imported from Australia because it tastes just like the coriander pesto I used to buy in Melbourne. I’m not a big fan of jarred pesto from the supermarket. Pesto is basically an Italian creation – it’s a paste made from mashed Italian basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan and olive oil. I’ve seen people getting creative and made pesto from rocket leaves, red capsicum but I can’t be sure if you’re allowed to call them pesto. I suppose the same way I wonder whether a pesto made from coriander leaves (also known as cilantro) is supposed to be called pesto. But I digress. Let’s just suffice to say that this variety of coriander pesto is my favourite.
So top the pesto-ed bread slice with layers of the grilled veggies – 2-3 slices of grilled capsicum, zucchini and egpplant each and scatter around the grilled mushrooms and semi-dried tomatoes (also bought from the same deli – another suspect ingredient of being an Australian thing but I can’t be sure). On the other slice, scatter some rocket leaves and shaved parmesan (the reason I use parmesan is because I don’t have anything else but the ideal choice of cheese would be ricotta but that’s a personal preference) and squish the two sides together and toast them in a hot toaster oven for about two minutes (this depends how hot your toaster oven is). If you have a sandwich presser, that will be so much better. If you just have a toaster, then just toast your bread first lah!
Serve with a side mixed salad and suddenly you have a cafe quality gourmet sandwich, dahhling!
Told you them grilled veggies are nice and easy and impressive.
