Monster Veggie Sandwich with Homemade Pesto

Today was definitely a "scattered cook" day. I started out wanting to make simple sandwiches for lunch with a pesto recipe I found. I was inspired by a sandwich I had yesterday with some great friends of mine, which also had a yummy pesto sauce on it. I thought to myself, 'sandwiches will be quick and easy,' so Dustin and I headed off to the store to get the ingredients.

While at the store I decided to pick up other things we needed as well (why make more than one trip, right?), plus the artisan bread in the bakery looked so good...and the cheese was on sale...and I'm sure I can find a recipe for those mushrooms, etc. After an hour, $100, and a serious case of zombie face from my husband, we were finally back home, and I was finally getting to work on the pesto recipe. This is how things developed:

First thing was first, the recipe called for 2 cups of packed basil. I went to my garden and begrudgingly whittled down my beautiful basil plants. When I thought for sure I had plundered enough to make the recipe, I brought it inside and reached for my measuring cup...no measuring cup to be seen. I looked around, then realized it must be in the dishwasher, which is was...and with all of my other measuring utensils...and I forgot to turn it on last night...washing dishes ensued. Finally dishes were done and I was ready to get back to making my pesto, when I realized the luscious bunch of basil I just plucked barely filled 1 cup!! And what else? I didn't have the right kind of cheese! Another trip to the store was in order. I could go on like this, but I think you get the picture. We finally sat down to eat our lunch at 6pm!! In the end we went a little crazy with the ingredients, but it's to be expected after an ordeal like that ;)

Getting Started: The Pesto

Luckily, once I had myself and my kitchen in order, the pesto making was really rather simple. Just throw everything in the blender and blend until nice and smooth. You can check out the original recipe here (thank you, Food Network), or you can use the list below:

            Ingredients

            2 cups basil, packed
            2/3 cup olive oil
            2 garlic cloves
            1/4 cup pine nuts
            1/2 cup Pecorino cheese
            Coarse salt and pepper to taste

Getting Started: The Sandwiches

The thing I love about sandwiches is all the different flavor combinations. A person could eat sandwiches every single day and never have the same thing twice. I started out just wanting cucumber, tomato, olives, pesto, and cheese; and ended up with a delicious monstrosity that required both hands for eating...it was really good. All you do is spread the pesto on one or both sides of the bread and layer with all the goodness listed below:

Ingredients

Your favorite bread (I used Puglaese folded bread)

Kalamata olives, chopped

Tomato

Green leaf lettuce

Marinated artichoke hearts

Pesto (homemade or store bought)

Mozzarella cheese slices

Avocado

Cucumber

Wrapping it up

It is my sincere hope that it will not take you 4 hours to fill your starving bellies with this delicious sandwich. In theory, it should only take a few minutes, and I hope  you enjoy it immensely!

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