I am a person who enjoys roasting vegetables. I am also a person who enjoys leisurely drives around New England with a blanket and perfect picnic sandwiches. This ultimate roasted veggie sandwich is one of my favorite picnic treats!
COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE: A GREAT WAY TO SUPPORT LOCAL FARMERS
But before I get into that, I would like to welcome you to my Community Supported Agriculture Series. I bought a summer farm share at Clark Farm in Carlisle, MA. This is very exciting. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is all about supporting local farms by buying a share of their harvest before the growing season and receiving farm fresh produce every week for a certain period of time.
I thought it would be fun to post new recipes each week where I use my fresh, organic farm veggies in recipes that you can make too! I know there are a lot of people out there who do CSA in the summer. So this is for all of you!
The featured CSA ingredients for this recipe are: eggplant, zucchini and summer squash.
The Ultimate Roasted Veggie Sandwich Travels Well for Picnics
In the late Spring, cooler days of summer and, of course, in the fall - I must picnic. I simply must. Anyone else love picnics? There is something about laying out a blanket in a field or by a lake that brings pure calm to my entire being. I have sandwiches on my brain. Picnic sandwiches. My go-to picnic sandwiches are my Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Romesco, Dill Havarti & Arugula and this Ultimate Roasted Veggie Sandwich. Picnic sandwiches must travel well. This is key.
If you're putting any condiments like mayonnaise, pesto or romesco sauce, a sturdy bread is required like ciabatta rolls. If I'm near my favorite bakery, I'll pick up focaccia rolls or French bread rolls. This type of roll will absorb the pesto very nicely and any toughness the ciabatta may have had, will be gone.
If you're planning to make this a road trip or picnic sandwich, ciabatta rolls work great and are widely available at the local grocery store. Second best option from the grocery store: French bread. Buy one of those long baguettes from the bakery and you're good to go!
Finally, the best part about this sandwich is that you can enjoy it warm or cold. So what are you waiting for? Plan your road trip and picnic destination and get a move on!
ARE YOU TOTALLY INTO CSA AND LOOKING FOR MORE FABULOUS RECIPES? I GOTCHA COVERED:
- The Best Salsa You'll Ever Make
- Skillet Frittata w/Spinach, Leeks & Feta
- Frozen Greek Yogurt Pops w/Strawberries
- Roasted Kohlrabi w/Lemon Garlic Tahini Sauce
- Zucchini Boats w/Garlic Tomatoes and Basil
- Incredible Zucchini & Summer Squash Gratin
- Amazing Summer Basil Pesto
- Crunchy Baked Kale Chips w/Kosher Salt
- Swiss Chard Pasta w/Lemony Breadcrumbs & Bacon Bits
The Ultimate Roasted Veggie Sandwich
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 sandwiches 1x
Description
Fresh veggies, homemade pesto, arugula, roasted red peppers. Get ready to make the ultimate roasted veggie sandwich.
Ingredients
- 2 medium to large zucchini
- 1 summer squash
- 3 small, thin eggplant
- ½ cup pesto (homemade or store bought)
- 2 roasted red peppers
- 8 rounds of thin sliced, fresh mozzarella
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- 4 ciabatta rolls
For the greens
- 3-4 cups of arugula lettuce
- 1 splash of balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Instructions
- Cut the tops and bottoms off all the zucchini, summer squash and eggplant. Slice all vegetable at an angle into thick rounds – should be ½” to ¾” thickness. My video shows this well.
- Place zucchini and summer squash on one side of a large sheet pan and eggplant on the other side of the same sheet pan.
- Drizzle olive on the squash side (not the eggplant yet). Then sprinkle a little salt and pepper. Toss the squash around to coat in the olive oil, salt and pepper.
- For the eggplant: Pour some olive oil in a ramekin and brush the olive oil onto the eggplant. The reason is that eggplant really loves olive oil and absorbs it very quickly. It’s better to spread the oil onto the eggplant pieces. Then add a little salt. Flip the pieces and brush olive oil on the other side. Add salt and pepper.
- Place the sheet pan in a preheated oven at 400 degrees. At the 15 minute mark – take the sheet pan out of the oven and turn all the pieces over and put back in the oven. In about 8-9 minutes after that, the zucchini and summer squash will be ready. Remove them from the sheet pan with a spatula.
- Put the eggplant back in the oven for about 5-7 more minutes. Remove them from the sheet pan with a spatula. My oven runs hot so yours may be different. With the eggplant, the browner the better. Really, browning the eggplant is ideal and makes it taste so, so yummy.
- Once the eggplant are finished add them to the plate with the zucchini and summer squash.
- Put your arugula in a bowl. Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Toss to coat the greens.
- Assemble the sandwiches: Spoon pesto onto the tops and bottoms of the ciabatta rolls. Place the vegetables in two stacks on each side of the bottom of the ciabatta roll. I try to line them up to plan for where I am going to cut the sandwich in two. (see video). Add 2 slices of mozzarella cheese rounds to each sandwich, and an appropriate-sized sliver of roasted red pepper. Place the arugula on the top of the ciabatta roll and flip it over to cap the sandwich. Slice in half. Enjoy!
Notes
- Cutting the vegetable into thicker rounds is necessary. Vegetables shrink when cooked. If you cut them too thin, they will fall apart.
- Vegetable sizes: I used smaller, thinner eggplant for this because that is what came with my CSA share that particular week. If you have the larger, thicker eggplant, I would say you will need 1-2 of these. Cut them in thick rounds as well. If that means you end up with more eggplant than needed – oh well! You’ll eat it because it’s delicious. Put it on your next salad.
- I used mozzarella for this because it works really well. You could use whipped goat cheese, a white bean and garlic spread or feta – though feta might be a little messy.
- For the roasted red peppers, I bought the small 7 ounce jar which typically contains ONE whole roasted red pepper. I bought two jars. I think the whole roasted red peppers work better than buying the jars with thin-cut strips of roasted red peppers. The thin strips can get messy and fall out of the sandwich. Then again, if you already have those on hand – just have extra napkins ready, right?
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