This grilled veggie sandwich with garlic scape pesto is one of my favorite summertime dinners! It’s fun to load up the grill with seasonal and colorful veggies to make a simple yet flavorful sandwich!
This months recipe redux theme was for healthy upgrades to the simple sandwich. Instantly, I knew I would post this recipe because it is loaded with healthy, seasonal vegetables!
I have tried a lot of different veggies in this sandwich, and many different options work. I always start with a base of squash, including yellow or green zucchini, or summer squash.
Mushrooms add a lot of flavor to the sandwich, so I always add them as well. Today I used fresh tomatoes to top the sandwich, but you can also try grilled eggplant or roasted bell peppers!
Variations to the Grilled Veggie Sandwich with Garlic Scape Pesto recipe:
- If garlic scapes are no longer available to make a pesto, try basil pesto or olive tapenade. A flavorful spread is essential to keep this sandwich interesting!
- Ciabatta bread is absolutely necessary for this sandwich. It adds so much texture that is necessary because your filling is all soft. I tried other breads and did not like the outcome. You can use a whole loaf, or individual sandwich rolls are even better if they are available!
- Pile high with veggies! Use anything seasonal that you enjoy. Here is the list of everything I have tried with success: green and yellow zucchini, patty pan squash, summer squash, eggplant, mushrooms, roasted bell peppers, and fresh tomatoes!
- 7 oz garlic scapes (1 bundle ~15 scapes)
- ½ cup almonds
- 3 TBS each: olive oil, lemon juice, and water
- 2 TBS Parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 medium squash (zucchini or summer squash)
- Olive oil spray
- 2 large portabella caps
- 4 sandwich ciabatta rolls or a 16 oz loaf ciabatta bread
- 1 large tomato
- 4 slices cheese (1 oz each, I like provolone or Havarti)
- Combine garlic scapes and almonds in a food processor and run until finely chopped.
- Mix together olive oil, lemon juice, and water. Pour into the food processor while running to make the pesto smooth.
- Mix in Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste.
- Preheat a charcoal grill until the coals are hot.
- Cut zucchini or summer squash into 6 long slices. Spray with olive oil and place on the grill. Add portabella caps, stem side up to the grill as well.
- Cook the zucchini until it is soft with dark grill lines. As the mushroom cooks, it's liquid will pool up in the center of the cap. Keep cooking it until the liquid has evaporated. If you use a mushroom that still has liquid on the sandwich, it will be messy to eat!
- Finally, slice open the ciabatta bread and grill until the bread is slightly toasted and starting to turn golden brown. If you use a whole loaf, scrap some of the bread out of the top slice before grilling, or the sandwich will be very thick and hard to eat! Rolls are usually small enough you don't need to remove any bread.
- Slice the cooked portabella cap, and the tomato.
- Spread the garlic scape pesto over the bottom bread slice (you will have a little extra). Top with zucchini, mushroom, tomato, and cheese slices. Add the top piece of bread and enjoy!
Pesto recipe adapted from Vanilla and Bean. I shared this post at fiesta friday!
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