Photos by Rikki Snyder
These Roasted Red Pepper and Mozzarella Sandwiches are a tasty and creative way to use up your leftovers. The homemade arugula pesto (recipe included) ties all the flavors together perfectly.
Made for Leftover Lovers and Leftover Haters
Not everyone is a fan of leftovers, but for me, it feels like a triumph to cook once and have dinner for two days. I win at meal planning! Take that, world! And then I do a little dance in my kitchen, waving my hands in the air like I just don't care, thinking about all the things I'll have time for now that I don't have to make dinner. Things like watching RuPaul's Drag Race and making up songs about my cats.
I do get why some people have an aversion to leftovers, though. A lot of the time, things just aren't quite as good the second time around. So this recipe is the perfect compromise for leftover lovers and leftover haters. It starts with a big batch of arugula pesto. Whip that up and use it to make Roasted Red Pepper and Mozzarella Sandwiches one night, and then the next night, use it to make a pasta dinner.
Get Creative
Let's start with the sandwiches. You can grill them panini-style to make them gooey and melty and warm, or you can skip that part and eat them without heating. Arugula has a peppery, assertive flavor, so I like pairing it with a mild cheese like mozzarella and sweet roasted red peppers. And you have options here too—use jarred red peppers to save time or roast your own, it's up to you.
You'll have plenty of pesto left after making the sandwiches; just enough to toss with pasta the next day for another dinner. Add some sun-dried tomatoes, steamed broccoli, and toasted pine nuts to make it a meal. That's a 15-minute dinner right there! Now go write some songs about your cats with all that free time you have.
Ingredients
- 1 large red bell pepper
- 1 large loaf ciabatta bread cut in quarters and then halved lengthwise
- ¼ cup Arugula Pesto
- 1 8 oz ball fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 8 slices
- olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500°F (broil).
- Line a small baking sheet with foil. Put the pepper on the baking sheet and broil until the skin is beginning to char, using tongs to turn occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and wrap the foil around the pepper. (Use oven mitts!) Let the pepper steam in the foil for 10 minutes.
- Remove the pepper from the foil and transfer it to a cutting board. Peel off the skin, cut off the stem, pull out the seeds, and discard them. Cut the rest of the pepper into thick strips.
- Spread 1 tablespoon of pesto onto the bottoms of the ciabatta bread. Divide the pepper strips onto the bread, then place the mozzarella slices on top of the pepper strips. Top with the remaining slices of bread and brush the tops with olive oil. (If you're going to serve the sandwiches cold, don't brush them with oil—just eat them!)
- Heat a grill pan or griddle over medium heat. Flip the sandwiches over and place them on the grill pan oiled-side down, then brush the other side of the sandwich with oil. Use a spatula to press the sandwiches down slightly, but don't press too hard or you'll have a mess of mozzarella everywhere! Cook 5–8 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
Notes
Ingredients
- 2 cups packed arugula leaves
- ⅓ cup toasted walnut pieces
- ⅓ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 small cloves garlic
- 2-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine arugula, walnut pieces, cheese, and garlic in the large bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped, then pour olive oil through the feed tube and continue to process until almost smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
I lovelovelove making my own roasted peppers! It's so easy!
This sandwich is pretty much all my favorite flavours, pilled up between bread. You can never go wrong with bread.
Gorgeous photos!
Yeah, we like roasting our own too--the jarred kind just isn't the same. 🙂
That looks AMAZING! Is it weird I want it for breakfast?
Breakfast sandwiches are definitely a thing!
Whenever I don't have to cook, I wave my hands in the air, too! So nice to kick back, relax, and MAN I need to watch Ru Paul's Drag Race!!
These sandwiches are the bees knees like nooooobody's biznatch! I need them every day of my life. Gimme dat pesto!
YOU DO NEED TO WATCH IT! The new season starts tonight, so it's the perfect time to start. 🙂
These sandwiches sounds so fresh I can almost taste springtime. 🙂
I love this! I make a fresh mozzarella sandwich and alternate between using pesto and straight up basil. I love that you used an arugula pesto! I'm all about leftovers btw, Curtis doesn't like them though!
I can't wait to start growing basil again this spring so I can make pesto with it! But I bet you can grow it year-round. 🙂
This is my ideal sandwich in every way!!!
Yes please, this is my dream sandwich. You can't miss with roasted red peppers + pesto!
That looks SO good. I'll have to try this next time I make mozzarella.
I need to make mozzarella someday! That's on my weekend project list. 🙂
Yum! I'll eat anything with pesto on it!
We really couldn't get through the week without leftovers...they are ALL WE EAT. I especially love sandwich leftovers because they taste just as good the next day! Anything with these Mediterranean flavors and ingredients sounds good to me!
Yeah, why do people hate on leftovers? I mean: CONVENIENCE!!! And if something is good the first day, I'm always delighted to eat it again the next day.
I've just recently developed a passion for roasted red peppers, which I quite disliked when I was younger. Now I can't have enough of them and am always looking for new ways to incorporate them into my meals! This sounds like a perfect vehicle since I'm huge fan of sandwiches, too!
xo, Elisa
I never liked red peppers when I was younger either. We were missing out! 🙂
What kind of veg could I sub for the Arugula? I've been buying large bags of spinach for my smoothies, could I use that? and I don't like walnuts, would toasted sunflower seeds work? Love your ideas!!
I've never made a pesto with sunflower seeds, although I have successfully used pumpkin seeds, so I think that should work. Spinach is much milder than arugula, so it won't have that peppery kick. You may want to add some basil to it to make it more flavorful.
Thanks, I think the basil or oregano would be good with a little garlic, Might even try some Cayenne and Cilantro for a different taste. These sound great for pasta or pizza's either one.
This looks beyond delicious! Love the flavours of this delicious sandwich.
LOVE this combo! Reminds me of summer...I haven't made pesto in so long and it's so easy. Thanks for sharing! XOXO
I will make pesto out of just about anything! It's definitely a staple in my fridge. 🙂
Yum! I don't mind leftovers at all (OK, maybe if it gets to a 4th day of the same thing), but I just can't get on board with arugula. I'm gonna be boring and make this one day with a basil pesto. 🙂
Arugula is totally a love-it-or-hate-it food! I used to not like it, but now I really enjoy that sharp flavor. But basil pesto works too. 🙂
It's a rarity if a sandwich with mozzarella and pesto in a menu I'm looking at doesn't get ordered, and this looks like an amazing variation. Love the arugula pesto! Pinned.
Yeah, at a lot of restaurants, some variation of that sandwich is pretty much the only vegetarian option. I never get tired of it though! 🙂
I came here for dinner ideas for tomorrow and now I feel like i need to make this NOW. I don't mind leftovers, however Chris is a weirdo and won't eat anything that isn't fresh. That's when I just lie and said I just made it again, and everyone is happy 😉
That works! I'm lucky that my Chris likes leftovers too. 🙂 Because with a food blog, there are a LOT of leftovers around here. I'm sure you know how that is!
This is my first week trying your meal plans! Thanks for the awesome resource. I'll let you know next week how it went. 😛 (The sandwiches were delicious)
I made these last night, they are YUMMY YUMMY YUM! My family of meat eaters did have me add some london broil on it for them, I ate mine just the way the recipe says and it was so good that I had to have it for lunch today. Thank you for an awesome recipe that my entire family can enjoy. 🙂
I'm so glad to hear it was a hit! 🙂
This was delicious! I added ham slices to my husband's sandwich (he's not cool enough to be vegetarian ;p) but I enjoyed mine exactly as is....and the pesto is amazing. I'll definitely be making this again. thank you!