Roasted Eggplant Pesto Sandwich with avocado, pesto sauce, and cheese is a marvelously flavorful vegetarian sandwich recipe that is loaded with rustic flair and so satisfying!
The eggplant may sit aloof, high up on the produce shelf, distanced from the more popular veggies, but this diamond in the rough plant is one of the most versatile and fun vegetables to use in the kitchen.
Underneath the thick purple skin, there is a party animal.
Eggplants can be roasted, sautéed, grilled, used for veggie burger patties, pureed into soup, made into curry and so much more.
In this application, we’re slicing then roasting eggplant in the oven until it’s nice and golden-brown and soft.
We’re then using said sliced eggplant rounds to create the most amazing rustic vegetarian sandwiches!
Is this veggie chockablock full to the brim with nutrition, like the beet?
Negative.
It is, however, a blank canvas beckoning your cooking creativity.
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for this eggplant and pesto recipe.
Ingredients for Roasted Eggplant Pesto Sandwich:
This recipe makes enough for two sandwiches.
We need one small eggplant, two ciabatta rolls (or 4 slices of bread), havarti cheese (or your favorite cheese for sandwiches), pesto sauce, and avocado.
This combination makes for a rustic, toasty, creamy, herb-infused delicious experience!
Have you tried my Kale Pesto recipe yet?
I made that pesto specifically for this sandwich.
You can use homemade pesto sauce or store-bought! Check out my Basil Pesto Sauce and my Roasted Beet Pesto.
The roasted eggplant, melty cheese, creamy avocado all smitten on a toasty roll smeared with kale pesto is just the ticket for a delicious lunch.
Show the forgotten vegetable some lovin’.
Eggplant Pesto Sandwich Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 small eggplant sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 4 slices Havarti Cheese*
- 6 Tbsp pesto sauce
- 2 ciabatta rolls sliced in half**
- 1 large ripe avocado sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit.
- Slice half of the eggplant into ¼” rounds, leaving the skin on, and coat both sides of each slice with avocado oil
- Place eggplant slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake the eggplant in the oven for 20 minutes, flipping the slices half-way through. If the eggplant isn't golden-brown and very soft by now, flip the slices again and bake for another 3 to 5 minutes.
- While eggplant is roasting, slice the rolls in half and toast in a toasted until they reach your desired level of crisp.
- Smear all slices of bread with pesto sauce, then place the a slice of cheese on each slice of bread so that all slices of bread contain both pesto sauce and cheese. Stack your desired amount of avocado and roasted eggplant to create your sandwich, and enjoy!
- Note: If you want to heat up the whole sandwich until the cheese is melted, place the sandwiches on a baking sheet and stick them in the oven at 375 for 5 or so minutes, until the cheese is melted.
This sandwich sounds wonderful and I’d like to make it for lunch today. But the ingredients list a small eggplant cut in 1/4” rounds and the directions say to slice half an eggplant in 1/4” rounds. Do we just do the latter? Or only if it’s a larger eggplant? Or should a whole small eggplant be cut into the rounds?
Thanks!
Hi Cindy! For two sandwiches, you’ll need 4 to 6 slices of eggplant (depending on how much eggplant you want per sandwich). For me, that requires only half of a relatively small eggplant, but again, the amount is your own judgement call 🙂 If you’d like to have leftovers, it makes sense to slice up the whole thing and roast it! Le tm know if you have any other questions, and happy cooking!