We’re taking it back to basics here and showing you a simple, quick recipe for a unique and delicious sandwich.  You may be questioning this a little, because mushrooms aren’t usually seen as the starring player in sandwiches – they’re typically only served as a topping.  There’s also plenty of people who have some apprehension about eating mushrooms as the main part of a meal, and for good reason:  in our experience, there’s a lot of lazy vegetarian dishes out there made with rubbery, undercooked mushrooms, and so many people come away with a negative impression of mushrooms.  But this sandwich (based on a recipe in Bon Appétit) prepares this ingredient in a new way, making for tender and flavorful mushrooms that are perfect when paired with a few other ingredients on some good bread.  Now here’s how to make these unique sandwiches for yourself!

You’ll need:

• A pound of portobello mushrooms
• Pesto sauce
• Vegetable oil
• Garlic
• 8 ounces of fresh mozzarella
• Jarred sliced cherry peppers
• Basil
• A long baguette

To prepare your mushrooms, remove the stems and cut them into 3-inch chunks.  Then warm a tablespoon of oil in a large cast iron pan over medium-high heat and add in half the mushrooms in a single layer.  After they just begin to brown and reduce, take a second, similarly-sized cast iron pan and wrap the bottom in aluminum foil, then place it on top of the mushrooms so they’re pushed down into your pan.  Add another pot on top, so that you’ve now got two weights pressing down on the mushrooms, and cook like this for another 3 minutes or so.  Remove the two pans, sprinkle the mushrooms with salt, and use a spatula to flip them all over, then place the pans over the mushrooms again and cook for another 3 minutes.

Then scoop the mushrooms out and place them in a bowl, and repeat this process to cook the rest of the mushrooms.

Once all your mushrooms are done, mix them with a few spoonfuls of pesto.  Cut your baguette in half, chop 2 cloves of garlic, and scatter the pieces over the bottom half of the bread.  Spoon the mushrooms on top.

Then slice up your mozzarella and lay it on top of the mushrooms …

… followed by cherry peppers …

… followed by basil leaves.

Lay the top half of the bread over everything and cut into fourths.

And you’ve got yourself a sandwich to enjoy!

We enjoyed trying out this way of cooking vegetables using both heat and weights – so much so that we’re now applying this method to other vegetable dishes we make.  And after the mushrooms come off the stove, it’s only a matter of layering different ingredients on a nice baguette, then cutting it up into individual sandwiches.  We liked the mix of savory mushrooms with pesto, combined with spicy peppers, rich fresh mozzarella, and cool green basil leaves, all on some good bread.  It’s a hearty sandwich with a well-cooked mushroom base, and we think it’s a shining example of how sandwiches don’t need meat to be tasty and satisfying.