Summer vegetables, brushed with herbs, garlic and olive oil, then oven-roasted until slightly charred with a creamy herb-flavored cheese spread on a homemade bread, now that’s a meal. Garlic Roasted Summer Vegetable Grilled Sandwich is beach food, rainy-day-weather food, make-ahead and a grill later meal too.
Look at how luscious and juicy the sandwich is after grilling it in oil and butter in a skillet on the stove. (The small dish in the background contains Romesco Sauce to dip the sandwich in. It’s totally unnecessary but because we had some on hand I tried it.)
Although the recipe says to toss then roast all of the vegetables together – an extremely efficient way to cook lots of them at once – I often roast each type of vegetable separately. A quarter sheet tray fits perfectly in our countertop toaster oven. I can roast each vegetable, one tray at a time while doing something else in the kitchen. In summer, using the toaster oven keeps the kitchen a little cooler when I don’t heat the large oven.
To oven roast the veggies, one type at a time, first I line a baking sheet with parchment paper. This makes clean up so much easier and I can reuse it for several batches of veggies. Then I add a tablespoon or two of olive oil.
Then I lay out the slices of the vegetable, in this case summer squash, in a shingle later. I can turn each slice over to pick up some of the oil on the parchment paper. The I sprinkle it with salt , pepper and herbes de Provence.
You’ll see that I layer the sliced vegetables in an even layer space closely together. The vegetable slices can be close together because of the roasting temperature and thickness of the slices.
Ingredients
1 small eggplant, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 small zucchini, cut lengthwise into ¼-inch-thick slices
1 small yellow squash, cut lengthwise into ¼-inch-thick slices
2 red peppers, halved, seeded and cut into 1-inch strips
1 small red onion, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
1/3 to ½ cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
¾ teaspoon herbes de Provence
12 slices country bread such as Butter Topped Toasting White Bread
Butter, as needed
1 cup herb-garlic cheese, such as Boursin or Alouette
6 thin slices prosciutto or smoked ham, optional
Oil for griddling
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle the slices of eggplant with salt and set aside in a colander to drain for 10 minutes.
- Dry the sliced zucchini, squash, and eggplant with paper towels and divide the slices between the two baking sheets. Add the pepper and onion slices. Coat the vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle them with salt, pepper, garlic and herbes de Provence. Spread the vegetables out evenly.
- Place the trays of vegetables in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes. Remove the trays from the oven and turn each vegetable to expose the uncooked sections. Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Turn the pieces again and continue cooking for a total of 20 to 30 minutes. The vegetables should be cooked through and slightly charred in places. Timing will depend upon the size of the vegetables, how spread out they were on the baking sheet and how hot the oven temperature.(The vegetables may be prepared a day ahead of serving. Refrigerate until needed.)
- Butter one side of each slice of bread. Spread the herb-garlic cheese generously on the other side of each slice of bread. Place a slice of prosciutto, if using, on one slice then layer the vegetables on top. Season with pepper and close each sandwich. (The sandwiches can be assembled a day ahead of grilling and serving.)
- Preheat a large flat griddle or two large frying pans over medium heat. Add a few tablespoons of oil and some butter to the griddle or pan. Place the sandwiches on the pre heated griddle. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until the bread turns a crisp golden brown without burning. Use a metal spatula to flip each sandwich. Place a weight on top of each sandwich and cook on the other side for 3 to 5 more minutes until each side is uniformly golden brown and crisp.
Notes
You can oven roast each vegetable separately. It takes more time but helps ensure that each vegetable is cooked perfectly.
The sandwiches can be eaten without griddling. You can griddle the sandwiches a couple at a time.
