Red Pesto And Eggplant Sandwich

This open-faced sandwich calls for regular (green) pesto, but I prefer a red version so I used red capsicum (peppers) instead.  Funny how only Australians call them capsicum (as far as I know).  I was watching UK food YouTuber Barry Lewis the other day and he was warning viewers not to touch their eyes after chopping them up.  Huh? thought I.  There's no capsaicin in them so no burny-burny.  Funny fella.

This recipe is from a book called The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook.  It's a collection of 76 stories with recipes, from (famous?) American kitchens.  Pardon my Aussie ignorance, but I'd only heard of ten of these people :-)  Perhaps that's why this book didn't really gel with me, but anyway, there are some 'interesting' recipes here.  Including this one by author Daniel Wallace (sorry, never heard of him).  

cheesy, crunchy and garlicky

He gives no quantities and very little instruction so I have done my best with it.  He made it for his wife-to-be, who told him months later that she had hated it!  Thankfully, Mr P. and myself chowed down on it very happily.  I assume he used a bought pesto but I decided to make my own, but you do you :)

Serves 2-4:

ingredients:

For the red pesto:

240g./8.5 oz roasted capsicum (from a jar)

20g./¾ oz/2 Tbs pine nuts

45g./1.5 oz cashews

1 tsp sea salt

a dozen grinds of black pepper

20g./6-7 Tbs fresh parsley

50g./1.8 oz parmesan, grated

1 Tbs vinegar

1 Tbs lemon juice

45 mL/3 (US) Tbs EV olive oil

Method:

Blitz all the pesto ingredients till you have a rough paste (mine was fairly liquidy), and set aside in a bowl or jug

Ingredients for the sandwich:

1 baguette or long bread roll (about 40 cm./16 inch length)

you will need: several Tablespoons of the pesto (Hi Mrs. Crocombe)

150g./5.5 oz grilled eggplant (I got mine from the deli)

1 or 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated

80g./3 oz cheddar cheese, grated and parmesan (2-3 Tbs), grated, to form a cheesy blanket over the eggplant

A few Tbs of chopped fresh parsley, to garnish (optional)

Method:

Slice your baguette in half lengthwise (horizontally)

Slather the two halves in as much pesto as you fancy - maybe 3-4 Tbs per slice?  Mr P. wanted lots on his half :-)

Cut the eggplant into large bite-sized pieces and place them across each baguette half

Scatter the garlic over the eggplant then Cover both slices with the vintage and parmesan cheeses

Place them on an alfoil-lined baking tray, wrap them loosely in the foil and bake at 180C/350F for about 15 minutes

Then open up the foil and bake for another 5 minutes or so till the cheeses are melted and golden

Sprinkle on the extra parsley, if using and serve with a salad

Notes:

If you're feeling energetic, grill or bake the eggplant slices yourself

Use vegan cheese if you wish, and to make it gluten-free, use a GF bread

I used Strong and Bitey Vintage Cheese 

There will be leftover pesto, so use it on anything you fancy

As a total aside to this, I recently discovered that our Aussie tablespoons which are technically 20 mL, are in fact quite often 15 mL as per US and UK recipes, since the actual spoons are not made here!

pesto ingredients gathered

pesto ready to blitz

slice that baguette!

and slather on the red pesto

eggplant goes on top of the pesto, awaiting garlic and cheese

on go the garlic and cheeses

golden and cheesy

ready to eat

Mr. Wallace's sparse ingredients list :-)

The method was equally sparse!  He says to halve the baguette, spread with pesto, place the eggplant on top, sprinkle on cheese (only cheddar) and garlic, and bake at 350F.  No times given, and no amounts.  And he doesn't even mention the eggplant in his ingredients!  His attention to detail ... :-)

© Sherry M.