This weekend, we made and ate a lot of food, as I hope you did too. Dinners involved grilled steak, pulled pork sandwiches, and mac ‘n cheese. For breakfast, we cooked doughboys, biscuit dough squeezed onto s’mores sticks and roasted over a fire, then stuffed with butter and strawberry jam. At lunch, we made sandwich after sandwich. There were so many fillings and spreads at hand that sandwich-making inevitably turned into a game show.
That’s fine by me. I’m competitive, and sandwich making is an art worthy of judgement. The right proportions are part of the championship formula, as are the right mix of textures. At the very least, you’ll want some spicy or pungent ingredients, and some that are more mild. When a sandwich errs on the side of too mild, I reach for the sun-dried tomatoes, which deliver a serious punch to creamy components like mozzarella or avocado.
And so when Carly, whom you know from taking the beautiful photos here, here, and here, told me about an open-faced sandwich she loved that featured mild avocado and bright sun-dried tomato pesto, I couldn’t wait to get the post and photos up on the site. Here’s what Carly says about this delicious five-ingredient number:
This sandwich was born out of a moment when, scouring the cupboards in a moment of hunger, something random came together and worked. Really worked. A friend had introduced me to a similar sandwich, with cottage cheese and avocado slices, but being without cottage cheese, I put together this alternative, which has now surpassed the original. A bold red pesto complements the creaminess of a well-ripened avocado creating a rich, satisfying flavor.
Have a five-ingredient sandwich you adore? Tell me in the comments, and I’ll add it to the repertoire. See the first two posts in the series here.
**Recipe**
Open-Faced Avocado & Red Pesto Sandwich
Serves 1
Ingredients
2 slices of thick wheat bread
About 4 tablespoons of sun-dried tomato pesto (recipe follows)
1 avocado
Squeeze of fresh lemon (optional)
Flaky salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
Cut 2 slices of bread and lightly toast. Once cooled, spread a thick layer of sun-dried tomato pesto pesto on each slice. Cut the avocado into thick slices and layer over the pesto. Squeeze with a tiny bit of lemon, then sprinkle with salt and a dash of pepper and enjoy.
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
Makes about 3/4 cup
Ingredients
2 large cloves garlic
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, slivered
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 teaspoon salt
½ lemon, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil (you can also use extra oil you drained from the jar of tomatoes)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
In a small food processor, pulse the garlic, tomatoes, pine nuts, and salt until coarsely chopped. Add the lemon juice and pulse to combine. Stream in olive oil and continue to blend until all the ingredients are finely chopped and the pesto is smooth and creamy. Add the Parmesan, and pulse to combine. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if necessary. If the pesto seems really thick, add a little more olive oil.
Photos by Carly Diaz
