Once upon a time, I had a Sandwich Party. Well, it was more like a football party, but sandwiches were the main course. Hmm…to be really honest, it was a “Jimmy’s coming for the game” party. Jim lives in Idaho now, but he and husband Allen were roommates in East Lansing. Yep, think MSU Spartans rather than Wolverines. Jimmy is a true University of Michigan fan, while my husband was a Michigan State University fan. There was always much teasing, joking, cheering and shouting that made for very loud parties. And we all keep coming back together every year for football games/parties.

I remember that friends and family agreed that the sandwiches were tasty. The previous post, NOW THAT’S A SANDWICH, was, of course, for the carnivores. But I needed another sandwich for those who didn’t want meat. It was made with feta and basil pesto and looked beautiful. It was… well, okay. But just not as fulfilling and satisfying as the meaty sandwich mentioned above.

I decided to try to resurrect the concept of the pesto-feta sandwich for my vegetarian daughter and her family when they came for dinner on another of our hot, humid Michigan summer nights. But of course I needed to make some significant changes to make it better. I decided to use two types of pesto: basil and sun-dried tomato. Adding provolone and cutting back on the feta was also a good change. Since I had some succulent and pretty tomatoes, I decided to replace the roasted red pepper with tomatoes. Next time I will use meatier Roma tomatoes, because these were a little too juicy and seedy. I think they made the sandwich a bit messier than it would have been with Romas.

When I went to the store to get focaccia, I couldn’t find any. I bought an asiago ciabatta instead. Since it was quite thick, I sliced it half, and pulled out a lot of the inner soft bread. Now I had a shell that could hold lots of filling, and not be too thick to bite into.

After mixing each pesto with reduced fat mayonnaise, I spread one on the bottom of the loaf and the other on the top. Then I put lettuce and feta on one side and provolone and tomatoes on the other. It would have been easier to layer the tomatoes and provolone on top of the feta. But I was able to test my somewhat ancient reflexes and see how quickly I could flip the tomato side on top of the feta side without losing too many ingredients!

Next, wrap the sandwich tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate. I think I made the original recipe and refrigerated it overnight. This one I made in the morning and refrigerated until dinner time. Chilling is important to help blend all of the flavors, so you can make it ahead and refrigerate it for 6-8 hours.

Well, I have to admit, I didn’t miss the meat. Having two cheeses, completely different in texture and flavor, was good. Plus using the two different pestos worked well with mayonnaise to smooth out the intensity of each. When my son-in -law Brian, stated, “This is a keeper.” I had to agree. I hope you do, too.

DOUBLE PESTO CHEESY SANDWICH

1 loaf focaccia, cut in half or
1 loaf ciabatta cut in half (scoop out excess bread in center )
2 tablespoons low fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon basil pesto
2 tablespoons low fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sun-dried
tomato pesto
1-2 large tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
6 slices provolone cheese
Fresh Romaine lettuce
Salt and Pepper

Cut bread in half horizontally. If using ciabatta, use fingers to scoop out excess bread, leaving 1/2 inch crust all around. Mix together mayonnaise and basil pesto and the mayonnaise and tomato pesto. Spread basil mixture onto one half of bread. Spread other half with sun-dried tomato mayonnaise. Arrange lettuce on red pesto side, cover with feta cheese. Layer provolone and tomatoes on basil pesto half. Quickly flip tomato side over on top of feta side.
Or–after arranging lettuce and feta on red pesto side, continue layering tomatoes then provolone on top. Cover with the basil-mayonnaise side.
Wrap completely in plastic wrap and refrigerator 4-6 hours. Unwrap and cut into single serving sizes.