Description
Roasted eggplant sandwich with fire roasted bell peppers, melted provolone cheese, fresh arugula and whole grain mustard on a ciabatta bun.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 globe eggplants (1 pound), peeled and cut into 1/2 inch round slices
- Kosher salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cloves garlic, grated
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1 12–ounce jar roasted red bell peppers, drained
- 4 ciabatta rolls, sliced in half horizontally
- 4 slices provolone cheese
- 1 cup arugula
- Juice of 1/2 fresh lemon
- Whole grain mustard
Instructions
Prepare the eggplant:
- Place a clean kitchen towel (or several layers of paper towels) inside a rimmed baking sheet.
- Lay the eggplant slices on the kitchen towel and sprinkle ¾ teaspoon salt over one side of the eggplant slices. Flip the eggplant slices around and sprinkle another ¾ teaspoon salt over the opposite side.
- Let the salted eggplant sit at room temperature for 30-40 minutes, until beads of moisture form on the surface.
Roast the eggplant:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Use a clean kitchen towel or paper towels to pat the eggplant slices dry and remove some of the salt.
- Line another rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and lay the eggplant slices over the foil.
- Pour the olive oil into a medium bowl and add the grated garlic, dried oregano and red chili flakes to the oil. Use a pastry brush to brush both sides of the eggplant slices with the herbed olive oil.
- Note: if you don’t have a pastry brush, you can spoon the olive oil onto the eggplant slices.
- Cook the eggplant in the oven until the centers are completely soft and the eggplant is golden brown, 45-55 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven halfway through baking and flip the eggplant slices over for even roasting.
- Note: Eggplants soak up a lot of oil. If they look dry when you’re flipping them over, drizzle with a bit more olive oil over the eggplant.
- Remove the cooked eggplant from the oven but keep the oven turned on to 400 degrees.
Preparing the arugula:
- Place the arugula in a large bowl and squeeze the fresh lemon juice over the arugula. Toss to completely dress the greens with lemon juice.
Assembling the sandwiches:
- Place the bottom half of the ciabatta rolls on a foil lined baking sheet. You can reuse the foil-lined baking sheet you used to roast the eggplant.
- Top the ciabatta bottoms with 3-4 slices of roasted eggplant and a few slices of roasted bell peppers.
- Top the sandwiches with a slice of provolone cheese each.
- Place the ciabatta tops, cut side down, on the baking sheet next to each sandwich.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and heat the sandwiches until the cheese has melted and the bread is warmed through, 3-4 minutes.
- Remove the sandwiches from the oven and slather some whole grain mustard over the cut side of the ciabatta tops.
- Top the sandwiches each with a pile of the dressed arugula.
- Sandwich the mustard-glazed ciabatta tops on top of the arugula and enjoy the sandwiches warm or at room temperature.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 60
- Category: Lunch
- Cuisine: American