arugula pesto caprese sandwich

I’m not sure what part of the world ya’ll are picnicking in the ass crack of summer, but if you are, consider this sandwich for your spread.

I once again scrambled like a maniac to figure out what to make on Monday morning. Monday is shopping and meal prep day, after all, and hence when I develop my savory recipes more often than not. Lately, I’ve been dialing in on dishes that will last a few days and serve as lunches/emergency dinners, because I’m lazy and will resort to frozen pizza and “chicken” nuggets if left to my own devices.

When I visited my pool on Saturday I did sorta think about sandwiches, but couldn’t really come up with much since most quality picnic sandwiches contain an assortment of deli meats. Which I don’t eat. And, though the veggie versions of said meats are a big part of my everyday diet, I don’t like to overuse them in recipes I create. I dunno. It’s just a thing.

But hey, the caprese sandwich is never a bad idea, and here we twist it up just a smidge to give it an interesting facade. Homemade pesto – really key here, my arugula pesto is several brands of fucken dope – and a smattering of sundried tomatoes give this classic favorite a buttload of extra flavor.

Alright, in the hierarchy of –load words, what has the highest value: buttload, assload, shitload, or fuckload? I’d argue fuckload.

‘Roog

Our friend the arugula – or rocket, as some of ya’ll call it, which is a name I don’t understand but still find dope – stars in two ways on this here sandwich. First, it forms part of the base of my pesto sauce, and second, serves as a finishing flash of green on top of all the other goodies.

Let’s start with the pesto. This formula is my favorite in almost every pesto-related dish I develop. We use arugula, cilantro, basil, and dill as the greenery, then jazz it up and texturize with walnuts, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, and feta cheese.

Plop all that into a food processor and whiz it together. While the processor runs, stream in a good amount of olive oil until the sauce emulsifies. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper as needed.

Keep in mind you can swap out a lot of the ingredients. Well, actually, practically any of them. So you can ignore me entirely and make whatever variety of pesto you fucking want, or buy some from the store. I don’t own your life, man.

Eat Fresh

This ain’t Subway, but I’d definitely say our friend here is fresher.

I like to toast up a big ciabatta loaf or a sturdy French baguette – I recommend a full-length baguette and not a demi-style one – under the broiler to get a nice crisp. Slice your bread in half lengthwise, brush with oil, and broil until golden to your liking. I do enjoy me a good blackened edge.

Now, we just assemble everything together. Start by spreading a generous heap of pesto on the bottom of the sandwich, then pile on the sundried tomatoes. Arrange the mozzarella slices, then the tomatoes. Finish with a big honking handful of arugula. I like to drizzle the greens with a little sundried tomato oil and maybe a sprinkle of chili flakes if I’m feeling spicy.

FYI, I do love using heirloom tomatoes when I can find them, but for the photos, I couldn’t find them. So there.

Yeah, that’s really it. Slice the loaf up into however many sandwiches you want. I find this combination very filling so 8 smaller sammies was reasonable, but you might want 4 or 6. The assembled sammich will keep for a few days before it gets soggy, but if you’re serving it to guests of some sort, prepping a day ahead is wisest.

PS – you will have pesto left over, so why not use it for lasagna, stuffed shells, pasta salad, or pizza?

Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!

More summer sammiches:

Garden Veggie Havarti Sandwich with Pesto Aioli

Grilled White Wine Caprese Avocado Sandwich

Avocado “Bacon” Club Sandwich with Herby Sub Sauce

Pesto Aioli “BLAT”