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This is a sandwich that can be eaten hot or at room temperature. You know what? It’s delicious cold as well! I’ve had it all three ways and what I love about this sandwich is you make these little eggplant sandwiches that go into the big sandwich…its like inception, mind blown. And those little eggplant sandwiches is a great little recipe on their own but throwing it into a sandwich with some more grilled veggies and of course bomba mayo, you have yourself something really to be proud of. Enjoy!
GRILLED VEGETABLE SANDWICH WITH PROSCIUTTO, EMMENTHAL, MOZZARELLA DI BUFALA AND BOMBA MAYO
Recipe by Mark Calaminici | Food Loves Company
Makes 2 sandwiches
Ingredients
1 small-medium eggplant, sliced into strips or rounds (8 slices)
1 zucchini, sliced into strips (4 slices)
Salt, to taste
Bomba sauce, to taste
Mayonnaise, to taste
250g cherry tomatoes, sliced or left whole
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped or thinly sliced
Fresh basil, to taste
100g Emmenthal cheese, coarsely grated
4-8 slices of Prosciutto Di Parma, thinly sliced
170g Mozzarella di Bufala, torn into pieces
Dried oregano, to taste
2 panini buns (8”), toasted is optional
Method
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Optional step: Lay the zucchini and eggplant strips onto a sheet pan and salt both sides. Let sit while preparing the rest of the ingredients. This helps release extra moisture to prevent soggy grilled vegetables.
3. For the bomba mayo, combine bomba sauce and mayo, mix to combine and set aside in the fridge. Adjust the ratio to your tastes. I usually do a 2 to 1 ratio of bomba to mayo.
4. In a pan on medium-high heat add 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil. Add cherry tomatoes and sauté and cook until tomatoes have charred, blistered and softened. You can tell when they’re ready when you can break up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Just before removing, add the garlic and basil and mix to combine. When the garlic is fragrant and softened, remove to a bowl and set aside.
5. Add the eggplant and zucchini to a bowl. If you took the extra step to pre salt and remove some excess moisture, just pat dry with a paper towel. Drizzle a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and freshly cracked pepper. Just be wary if you took the extra step of pre salting, to not over salt. Grill up the eggplant and zucchini on the BBQ or a grill pan until cooked. Once the vegetables have some nice grill marks and have softened a bit, they’re done.
6. Lay down 4 strips of the grilled eggplant onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Add the prosciutto, either 1-2 strips per piece of eggplant. Then divide the cheese between the eggplant slices and top with the other 4 eggplant slices. Place in the oven for 4-5 minutes or until the cheese has fully melted.
7. Building the sandwich. Lay down some tomatoes on the bottom half of the bun. Top with two zucchini slices. Top with 2 eggplant sandwiches. Add mozzarella di bufala and season with oregano. Add a generous amount of bomba mayo on the top half bun. Enjoy!
Until next time, ciao!