Meatless Monday doesn’t mean you can’t have a hearty, satisfying meal.
Summer vegetables eggplant and Portobello mushroom star in this open-faced sandwich delight.
In this installment of Giada at Home, Giada teaches us a perfect summer option for Meatless Mondays.
It takes a little bit of effort to prepare the separate elements in this open face sandwich, but it is well worth the work.
First, you start by breading and baking your vegetables. A simple flour, egg, and panko breadcrumb crust is applied to both the eggplant and Portobello mushrooms. Place them on a baking sheet and cook for 20-30 minutes in the oven.
While that’s cooking, you can prepare the rest of the sandwich ingredients. Drizzle the slices of bread with olive oil and either grill or toast them. Set aside.
Also, grate your cheese (or use slices—we won’t tell!), wash your arugula, and heat up the jarred tomato basil sauce. Now its sandwich assembly time!
Start with the grilled bread and a dollop of the tomato basil sauce. Layer the Portobello mushroom, cheese, arugula, and then eggplant on top. Then top with one more dollop of tomato basil sauce. Enjoy!
Crispy Eggplant & Portobello Mushroom Sandwich Ingredients:
- Vegetable oil cooking spray
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 large eggs, beaten, at room temperature
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- Four 1/2-inch thick eggplant slices
- Four 4-inch diameter Portobello mushrooms, stemmed
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- Four slices country wheat bread, toasted or grilled
- ¾ cup jarred tomato-basil sauce
