I bought Capsicum or Bell Pepper of 3 different colors and prepared Sabzi out of half the quantity of Capsicum bought. The other half was lying in my refrigerator and I thought of preparing something really special from it. Searched in Google for a good recipe and that’s when I found Tarla Dalal’s Caramalised Capsicum Crostini recipe. I was pretty impressed with the recipe whose origin is supposedly Tuscany (a region in central Italy). This is essentially an Open Grilled Sandwich prepared by heating in Oven by placing the bread slices topped with cut Capsicum, Onions, Olives, Italian Herbs and hence the name Open Grilled Veg Sandwich. I could not find Olives when preparing this Sandwich. Yet, the whole preparation turned out to be really tasty. Caramelizing the Capsicum (see below) gives good taste to the Sandwich. Mixed Italian Herbs enhance the taste of Sandwich. Topped Mozzarella Cheese gives the taste of Pizza to this sandwich. Try out and let me know if you had a great time.
Open Grilled Veggie Sandwich
- Whole Wheat Bread or Sandwich Bread – 8
- Grated Mozzarella Cheese – 1/4 Cup
- Sliced Green Olives – 4 (Optional)
Topping Ingredients:
- Red Capsicum/Bell Pepper – 1/2
- Yellow Capsicum/Bell Pepper – 1/2
- Green Capsicum/Bell Pepper – 1/2
- Onion – 1 small sized
- Olive Oil or any Oil- 1 tsp
- Grated Garlic – 1/2 tsp
- Dried Mixed Italian Herbs – 1/2 tsp
- Black Pepper Powder – 1/4 tsp
- Sugar – 1 tsp
- salt
Time to Prepare: 20 min
How to Make Open Grilled Veggie Sandwich:
For the Sandwich Topping:
Open Grilled Veggie Sandwich topping
- Cut the tri-colored Capsicum / Bell Pepper into short thin strips and finely chop the Onions. Keep aside.
- Heat Oil in a non-stick pan (to achieve good results for caramelize of Sugar, always use non-stick pan). Add the sugar to the Oil and allow it to caramelize (turn golden brown in color) for 2-3 minutes. Then use wooden spatula to mix well with the Oil.
- Now add finely chopped Onions and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add grated Garlic and mix well with all the ingredients. Then add one by one colored Capsicum / Bell Pepper like Green, Red and Yellow cut in Step 1 and saute on a medium flame for 5-6 minutes by stirring continuously with the help of spatula.
- At this stage, add Salt, Mixed Herbs, Black Pepper Powder and mix well and saute on high flame for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the flame and divide the mixture into 8 equal portions (one each for the 8 bread slices).
Sandwich Preparation:
Open Grilled Veggie Sandwich
- Once the toppings are ready, place a Bread slice on a plate. Spread the topping evenly on the Bread slice and sprinkle the grated Mozzarella Cheese and few slices of Olives. I did not use Olives to prepare the Sandwich, still the Open Grilled Veggie Sandwich turned out very tasty. Repeat this procedure for other Bread slices.
- Bake the prepared Bread slices in a pre-heated oven at 200 degree C for 5 minutes or till the cheese melts (As per Tarla Dalal). But I used Microwave Oven to bake the Bread using Grill Mode of Microwave – preheat the Oven for 3 min.
- Arrange the Bread slices on a high rack grill (at a time 2-3 slices can be arranged) and bake all the slices for 6-7 minutes or till the Cheese melts. Repeat for all the Bread slices.
Open Grilled Veggie Sandwich
Now the Open Grilled Veggie Sandwich is ready. Serve with Tomato Sauce.
The open faced sandwiches with the grilled veggies looks inviting – so many variations we can give to the recipe !
Hi Hema,
I just stumbled on your website. It is excellent for the vegetarians.
Please answer two of my below Q, I am very new to cooking
1 – Which Mozzarella brand is good to use and is it easily available in Bangalore?
2 – Dried Mixed Italian Herbs – Where can I get this? Any particular brand that is again easily available? Or please point out how to make this.
Appreciate your response.
Thanks.
Regards,
Sindhu
Thanks for the comment Sindhu. I usually buy “Britannia” brand Mozzarella Cheese although any brand of cheese can be used. This cheese is specially used for Pizzas. One can find it in almost all the departmental stores in Bangalore and across India. Second thing – Dried mixed Italian herbs that can also found in departmental stores. I usually use “Easy Life” brand which is available in Namdhari’s stores. I hope this information helps and Open Grilled Sandwich comes out well.
Thanks Hema, U made my day.
My mom & me enjoyed this sandwich a lot. The entire credit is to you, obviously.
Warm Regards,
Sindhu
Hi
Hema
Tt was tasty i liked it. Thanks for the recipe.
Regards
Archana
please send me this recipe
one doubt. if the bread slices or in earlier case pizza kept on the top rack in the microwave oven will not some cheese melt and fall on the glass plate at the boittom.. perhpas it does not matter and can be washed. still I would like to have a solution. I read for grill you can use metal can I keep pizza on a metal plate on the top or it is not allowed in microwave oven. as it is safety problem I would like to have expert opinion