Grilled Veggie & Pesto Sandwich

Mirror mirror on the wall, tell me why I crave sandwiches above all…..

Okay I suck at rhyming but I seriously don’t care and go with the flow whenever a sucky rhyme comes to my head. Luckily I get distracted easily. For example with this goodie:

I’ve declared my love for sandwiches quite a few times already – both on social media as well as in real life. Ask Stefan we’re going through loaf and loaf of bread in a crazily short time. And let me tell you, we love it both. With the weather being so nice all the time I roast giant chunks of meat and make 2-4 meals of sandwiches for Stefan and me almost every other day. The quest for sandwichporn is still on and honesty I can’t see it ending anytime soon! For further proof and inspiration check out my Instagram or this post!

  Yes, live is good to us at the moment!

I am a declared carnivore and only the thought of going vegetarian sends me in famine mode. But from time to time I crave a little more freshness on my plates. I also wanted to create a satisfying meal for people who don’t eat meat but also want to participate in a bbq without sticking to veggies only or having to rely on meat substitutions that are a little gross in my eyes actually.

The sandwich is so full of flavors – thanks to the pesto, crispy and creamy at the same time – hello melting cheese on grilled bread and those pine seeds give you the extra Italian kick. So get out your grill, heat it up and put some veggies and sandwiches on there. It’s also  a good dish to prep for next day’s lunch when you’re already grilling at night.

Print Recipe

Grilled Veggie & Pesto Sandwich

Author: Juli

Ingredients

• 2 - 4 slices of bread depending on the bread size
• 1 cup shredded cheese I used gouda
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes I used a mix of yellow and red cocktail tomatoes
• 1/3 cup pine seed
• 1,5 T + 1 tsp pesto rosso
• 1 medium zucchini

Instructions

• Cut the zucchini into stripes lenghthwise, oil them slightly and give on the grill for about 6 minutes, flipping after 3 minutes. Check onto them after maybe 2 min. depending on the heat of your gill they might be done quicker
• In the meantime give the shredded cheese, chopped tomatoes, pine seed and 1,5 T pesto in a mixing bowl and stir with a fork until everything is well combined. If you like it a little heavier on the pesto add a little more
• When the zucchini is done, start layering the sandwich. Smear a little pesto on one slice of your bread to prevent the zucchini from slipping off too easily. Now add a layer of the grilled zucchini slices, some of the mass and top with the second slice of bread.
• Now carefully place the sandwich on the grill. I'd recommend to put it near the edge as you don't want to expose it to too much heat right in the beginning. It's important to let the cheese melt without burning the bread
• After about 5 min carefully flip the sandwich. A dish might come in handy to support the flipping process.
• Grill for approx. another 5 min until the bread is crispy and the cheese melted completely
• Enjoy warm

Notes

Every grill is different in heat and therefore has a huge impact on the cooking times so make sure to monitor the grilling process closely
Be careful when flipping the sandwich - I lost one when the zucchini decided not to stay on the bread slice and took all the cheese down on the ground
If you want to use roasted pine seed only roast lightly in advance. They might get too dark on the grill otherwise

So far so good. This all made me really hungry now! Slowly but surely I feel I have created so many recipes for grilling I should post a round-up. Maybe next week. Or maybe I get distracted by another sandwich and just abuse you as my audience for more sucky rhymes and melted cheese.

I make pancakes now!  Have a great Sunday friends!