Cheese, Pesto and Vegetable Grilled Sandwich

I am crazy about sandwiches and would gladly have it for any meal. They just got to be grilled or toasted and must have cheese. This is something I make often at home, almost every weekend. You can play around with the fillings and create your own special sandwich. 

The Pesto recipe is from the Savvy Cookbook (2002 edition). I am not mentioning the measurements for the filling as they are to be used as per your taste. You could use any vegetables, meat or even eggs. I have tried with omelettes, all kinds of meat and even grilled fish and they all taste great. Below I have mentioned the fillings that I used for this particular sandwich.

Cheese, Pesto and Vegetable Grilled Sandwich

Ingredients:

For the Basil Pesto - 

26 gms Parmigiano cheese

100 ml extra virgin olive oil

20 gms parsley

100 gms basil

20 gms pine nuts

For the sandwich -

Slices of wholegrain/ wheat bread

Pesto sauce

Cheese Slices, I used Monterey Jack for this one

Grape Tomatoes, sliced

Zucchini, sliced thin

Jalapenos, chopped

Dill Pickle slices

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

To make the pesto, combine all the ingredients and blend to a coarse paste in a food processor.

Transfer to a jar and top with a layer of olive oil. Refrigerate if you are going to consume immediately or freeze for a couple of months. I have a frozen one that I had made sometime back. Defrost before using.

Preheat a grill or broiler. To assemble the sandwich, Butter one side of each bread (I usually avoid this step) and apply pesto on the other side and top with a slice of cheese. Place the fillings on one slice of bread and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Top with another slice. So each sandwich has two layers of cheese.

Grill or broil each side till the cheese has melted and the bread is brown and has a crunch to it..

Serve hot with salads.

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This is my entry to 

1. 'My Favorite Things - Cheese' hosted by me.

2. '15 Minute Cooking' hosted by Mahima.