Somedays you need this fancy yet straightforward lunch too. Kids these days have a lot of preferences and so does my 9-year old. I can’t believe he will be hitting the two-digit age next year. The vegetable sandwich is my go-to option, but during Jan it was even hard to prepare that. That’s how crazy it was on weekdays.
That’s when I came across these pressed eggplant sandwiches recipe. Given the fact that we love Mediterranean and eggplant, I thought of giving it a try. Of course, it was a hit if not I wouldn’t be posting it here. :-) The recipe as such is simple. But I further made it simple. I did not use bell peppers in this Eggplant Mozzarella Sandwich recipe, and also instead of the whole ciabatta, I went with French bread slices, same with eggplant and zucchini. I get the enormous zucchinis for this sandwich. Usually, I choose eggplant and zucchini based on the bread slices. Also, I use mozzarella log cheese for this as it’s easy to cut. I allow the grilled veggies to cool and make the sandwich and wrap it up and stock it in the fridge.
Tenali Rama and the Brinjal Curry
The blog needs no intro about my love for aubergine/brinjal/eggplant. But I know it is a hit or miss vegetable. Vaandu likes it in only specific forms that too after we read this story. I love Tenali Rama stories, and we bought a small collection when vaandu was around four years. One of the stories was this Tenali Rama and the Brinjal Curry, and I used that story as an opportunity and coaxed him to try eggplant. I would say I succeeded 60%, but I am happy about it. Thanks to the pesto and that big mozzarella chunk, that made kiddo, to approve this sandwich.
Eggplant Mozzarella Sandwich
An easy, no fuss, and cold Mediterranean style sandwich with grilled eggplant, zucchini, pesto and of course mozzarella.
Ingredients:
Eggplant Slices (rounds) – 4 Zucchini Slices (rounds) – 4 Mozzarella Slices (rounds) – 4 Bread Slices – 8 Salt – ¼ tsp + ¼ tsp Oil – 1 tsp + 1 tsp Pesto – 6 tsps (1.25 tsp for each sandwich)
Steps:
Heat skillet or pan and add ½ tsp of oil and spread it evenly with a tissue. When it is hot, place the eggplant slices and sprinkle ¼ tsp of salt on top.
Let it cook for two to three minutes and flip them. Spread the remaining ½ tsp of oil and let it cook for three more minutes or until they are soft and tender and seared like below.
Carefully remove them and add ½ tsp of oil and spread it evenly with a tissue. Now place the zucchini slices and sprinkle ¼ tsp of salt on top.
Let it cook for two minutes and flip them. Spread the remaining ½ tsp of oil and let it cook for two more minutes or until they are soft and tender and seared like below.
Allow them to cool.
Now take the bread slices and apply a tsp of pesto.
Then arrange one eggplant and zucchini slice either side by side or on top of one another.
Then place the mozzarella slice. Apply ¼ tsp pesto over the other slice and cover it.
Wrap it tightly with plastic wrap or brown wax paper. Store in refrigerator.
Recipe Notes:
Make sure your eggplant and zucchini slices are clean and dry. The grilling time varies depending on the skillet/pan material, i.e., I used my iron skillet for this. Also, you can bake them in the oven too. You can use any bread variety and same if you cannot source mozzarella logs, you can use mozzarella slices or chunks. Add other condiments/sauces as per your preference.
📖 Recipe
