I developed this sesame noodle recipe after making a number of mistakes. It has a deliciously nuanced flavor thanks to the addition of peanut butter, sesame oil, and green onions.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant, sliced into strips
- 2 red bell peppers
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 portobello mushrooms, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 (1 pound) loaf focaccia bread
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Brush eggplant and red bell peppers with 1 tablespoon olive oil; use more if necessary, depending on sizes of vegetables. Place on a baking sheet and roast in the preheated oven. Roast eggplant until tender, about 25 minutes; roast peppers until blackened. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and cook and stir mushrooms until tender. Stir crushed garlic into mayonnaise. Slice focaccia in half lengthwise. Spread mayonnaise mixture on one or both halves.
- Peel cooled peppers, core, and slice. Layer eggplant, peppers, and mushrooms in focaccia.
- Wrap sandwich in plastic wrap; place a cutting board on top of it and weight it down with some canned foods. Allow sandwich to sit for 2 hours before slicing and serving.
- The eggplant and red peppers can also be grilled. Lightly oil the grate and cook over medium or medium-high heat until vegetables are tender and have nice grill marks.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 356 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 48 g |
| Cholesterol | 4 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Protein | 9 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 500 mg |
| Sugars | 5 g |
| Fat | 15 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Based on reviews, I changed some things as well! I used a roasted red pepper hummus LIGHTLY as a spread, followed by a homemade roasted garlic aioli. Then the veggies! A butter lettuce rounded it out…PERFECTION!
This was one of the best sandwiches ever! I couldn’t find focaccia so I used fresh baked French bread, and I added a bit of pesto into the garlic mayo just for fun. Will definitely be on regular rotation and I can’t wait to play with adding other veggies into the mix.
Great rich roasted flavor! I didn’t have focaccia available so served on a telera roll. Came out awesome! Definitely recommend
Worth all of the work. I couldn’t find foccia at my market so I used a ciabatta loaf and it worked really well.
I live off of these sandwiches. Instead of plain mayo, I squeeze some of the gourmet garden brand Italian herb paste to mix with the mayo. go easy and so good. also, Kroger sells vegetable skewers that are perfect and often marked down. I just cook them in my toaster oven.
My son-in-Law made this for us and it was DELICIOUS. Definitely recommend this
I live in a small town and I could not find focaccia bread so I used a sort of french bread. In any event everyone loved it –it was very tasty and made for a satisfying meal that has made it to our favorites list.
I made an avocado dressing and replaced the mayonnaise with that. Very yummy & easy recipe.
I loved it. I made it as printed first and had some issues that others had commented on. Here’s a few things that helped: used roasted garlic with the mayo – raw garlic is just too hard on me; toasted the bread before making and had some good result with that; used some rosemary and oregano while roasting the veggies and took the flavor up a notch. The only thing is the soggy part – I haven’t been able to fix that completely. Tried toasting, using cheese (I know the whole veggie thing went out the window on that part) and lastly using a panini maker to dry it out some. Roasted peppers are just slick and watery no matter how much you try to dry them off. Might just try it for an hour instead of two.
Absolutely delicious, gonna keep this one for years.
The flavors are excellent but the bread got really soggy. I placed cheese on each side of the baguette, between bread and vegetables, but it still got soggy. Next time (and there will be a next time!) I’ll cook the vegetables in advance, give them a day to release juices, and then assemble the sandwich. May choose to do it as a regular panini, rather than trying to press it down for 2 hours.
Oh wow! This recipe was the inspiration for our lunch, and I can honestly say it was the best sandwich- ever. I used some fresh whole wheat schiacciata, and roasted a head of garlic with the eggplant and peppers. While that was all cooking, I carmelized some onions. I used the whole head of roasted garlic with some mayo and a bit of pesto. The whole family loved it! The 13 month old, 3-year old… even my father-in-law! Delizioso!
The texture and garlic mayo was just too much. I will say it was delicious for the first 3 bites or so.
Absolutely amazing!!! It really hit the spot. We used sour dough bread & loved it.
Left out the eggplant because my local grocer did not have it and the sandwich was still awesome. Thanks.
We used to make these at a bistro I used to cook at. We would throw on some avocado and fresh moz .. Oh my my
This is flavorful and yummy. My only issue with it is that the bread gets SO soggy after two hours. I was hoping for leftovers, but because the bread is so wet now, I doubt I’ll be able to eat it in the morning. It may have been just me or my vegetable though. I’m going to try to make it a little drier next time and see how it goes.
I made this for dinner tonight and I read through the comments and made some changes. I roasted the veggies the night before and I sliced the red peppers and roasted them with the eggplant. I sauteed the sliced portabella with the olive oil and garlic. I don’t like mayo so I replaced with “light” garlic and herb cream cheese spread (Atoulle??). Wasn’t sure if I would like it hot or cold so I pressed it for about an hour, cut it in 4 pieces, toasted one piece and ate the other cold. It is good either way but I prefer the toasted. This is a very good basic recipe that can easily be changed to your preference and veggie availability. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh, what a WONDERFUL sandwich! My only change was to serve it on sourdough and experiment with different cheeses: Muenster and Feta–putting under broiler a bit. Both were great. Oh, and I added a squeeze of lemon juice and pinch of oregano to the garlic/mayonaise recipe.
Easy to throw together for a picnic. Made for a George Foreman grill 😉
Great tasting sandwich alternative. Added zucchini, provolone cheese, and balsamic glaze instead of mayo. Definitely excited to make this again!