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Caprese Sandwich

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Caprese Sandwich

This weekend the farmers market was full of fresh field ripened locally grown tomatoes and I picked up a bunch of them. While I was at the grocery store I was thinking about the caprese salad that I had not to long ago when I passed a nice looking loaf of ciabatta; my favorite sandwich bread. The two thoughts collided and I just had to try a caprese salad sandwich in some nice and crusty and chewy ciabatta. The first version of the sandwich was pretty simple having just fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil ant it was nice and fresh and really good.
I knew that I would be using a lot of the fresh basil to make some basil pesto and I thought that it would be great if I added some of that to the next sandwich. The fresh basil pesto made the sandwich even better! While on the roll, the next sandwich got a splash of balsamic vinegar which added a really nice kick.

Caprese Sandwich
My next thought was that it would be really nice if the mozzarella was melted by grilling the sandwich. I had wanted to do it panini style but I do not have a panini maker so I pulled out my grill pan and pressed down on the sandwich with a bowl. The grilled caprese sandwich did not get the nice panini grill marks but the mozzarella did melt nicely. The warm gooey melted mozzarella in the sandwich was really good.

Grilled Caprese Sandwich
I am off to make another sandwich.

Caprese Sandwich

Caprese Sandwich

Prep Time:25 minutes Cook Time:50 minutes Total Time:1 hour 15 minutes Servings: 2
ingredients
  • 2 slices bread (or a bun)
  • 1 fresh ripe tomato (sliced)
  • 1 ball fresh mozzarella (sliced)
  • 1 handful fresh basil leaves
  • 1 tablespoon basil pesto (optional)
  • 1 splash balsamic vinegar (optional)
directions
  1. Assemble sandwich.
  2. Grill if desired.
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nora B. says

    September 3, 2008 at 11:35 pm

    Grilled caprese panini is definitely one of my fav. sandwiches. There is an Italian cafe on campus that made a really good one and I used to have it at least once a week when I was still in college.

    Reply

  6. Bridget says

    September 3, 2008 at 11:53 pm

    Oh wow. It never occurred to me to put a caprese salad on a sandwich (because I am apparently far from creative), but that looks absolutely amazing, especially with the pesto.

    Reply

  12. Elra says

    September 4, 2008 at 12:39 am

    Kevin.
    That is such a good looking sandwich, very simple and I love the fact that you use pesto for the spread, have you though of just putting balsamic and olive oil?

    Reply

  14. Toni says

    September 4, 2008 at 1:13 am

    Never thought of grilling this kind of sandwich, but with fresh summer tomatoes available in abundance, and fresh basil in my garden….who am I to resist? 😉

    Reply

  15. Steph says

    September 4, 2008 at 2:05 am

    Your sandwich looks so delicious and refreshing! I think it’s perfect with the melty cheese and toasty bread.. even though there aren’t any marks.

    Reply

  29. Pam says

    September 4, 2008 at 5:57 am

    Whenever I visit my mother in law, I go to a little bistro in town, that serves a basil pesto caprese sandwich. It is my all time favorite sandwich. The photos make my mouth water.

    Reply

  53. Debbie says

    September 4, 2008 at 6:38 pm

    oooo…can’t wait to try this. I make an appetizer similar to this, the difference is I cut up french baggette into small circles brush them with olive oil and bake with ball moz, basil and tomato.

    Reply

  58. jodycakes says

    September 5, 2008 at 1:32 am

    How can a caprese get any better but to be in a panini. Love the addition of additional basily goodness in the pesto.
    I don’t have a panini press either but I bought a big ol’ brick that I tripled covered in foil…that does the trick.

    Reply

  65. Dee says

    September 5, 2008 at 3:11 pm

    Your sarnie is EXACTLY what I should have had for lunch. Instead I had a soggy bagel with smoked salmon and NO cream cheese. And it rained. Which has nothing to do with lunch, but it wasn’t a good day and I want that sandwich.

    Reply

  68. Coffee and Vanilla says

    September 5, 2008 at 7:24 pm

    So simple and delicious Kevin… I recently buy Turkish flat bread and toast it, then spread a little bit of butter and top with mature cheddar shavings… 😉 But mozzarella, tomato, basil are one of my favourite combinations… Must try to grill it next time.

    Have a wonderful weekend, Margot

    Reply

  70. Dana McCauley says

    September 6, 2008 at 1:22 pm

    kevin, this sandwich looks anything but boring! I’m trying to lose my vacation pounds (I’m not fat but that isn’t the same as being thin, is i?) so I’ve been laying off the bread. The picture of this sandwich could send me tumbling off the wagon, though.

    Reply

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