Pesto caprese loaf

My excellent boss Erika was talking about how she’s making use of all the basil in season right now by making pesto for everything.

That got me thinking: how could I make pesto the star of a sandwich? Basil isn’t the only thing in season; tomatoes are, too. And I’ve got plenty of both. What if I turned caprese salad—tomato, fresh mozzarella, and pesto—into a sandwich?

You could try to make that into a variation of the grilled cheese sandwich but I kept thinking about two epic picnic sandwiches: pan bagnat and muffluetta. Both require taking a whole loaf of bread, pulling out the inside of the loaf so that bread can act as a shell for a pile of ingredients.

Pan bagnat focuses on tuna, eggs, capers, anchovies. It’s a great sandwich but it’s not a vehicle to make pesto the star. Muffluetta focuses on deli meats and cheeses, an olive salad—which I sort of did when I made my Italian hoagie. Again, not really a pesto star type of sandwich.

For my pesto caprese loaf, I’m starting with a beautiful fresh sourdough boule from Fred’s bread.

I cut the cap off of the bread and pull out the bread stuffing.

Don’t worry, the inside of that delicious loaf isn’t going to waste: you can make homemade breadcrumbs or croutons. Better than store bought.

Now that I’ve got my bread bowl prepared, it’s time to make pesto. I put a handful of pine nuts in the food processor and give that a whirl until they’re crumbled. If you don’t have pine nuts, walnuts are a great replacement.

I’ve picked some fresh homegrown basil. It looks and smells like summer.

That goes into the food processor along with 2 minced garlic cloves and a healthy grating of parmesan (about 2 tbsp).

Blitz those ingredients until the basil has broken down, then drizzle about 1/4 cup of olive oil into the mix. Easy peasy.

Time to build the sandwich: brush the inside of the loaf with a generous amount of pesto.

Add a layer of sliced fresh bufala mozzarella.

Brush a layer of pesto on top of the mozzarella.

Now for some tomatoes.

Slice two tomatoes and layer tomato slices on top of the pesto/mozza. Season with salt and pepper.

A second layer of mozza does down.

More pesto goes on top of the cheese.

Top that with a final layer of tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

Brush the inside of the bread lid with pesto.

Pop the lid on tight.

Tightly wrap the boule with plastic wrap, place it in a container (I used a pie plate) and top the wrapped sandwich with a heavy cast iron pan, pushing down to make the sandwich more compact.

The pan and sandwich go into the fridge to chill for 2 hours to let those flavours meld. When you’re ready to serve, remove the wrapping from the boule.

Slice the boule in half and then slice each half into 3 wedges.

The pesto has infused both the cheese and the bread, the tomatoes play well with basil and garlic, and the sum turns out to be better than each of the parts. This is a great way to feed a crowd peak summer. A perfectly chilled, layered sandwich within a crusty bread shell. It looks pretty and the pesto is the star.

NB: This sandwich can also be served hot. Cover with foil and pop into a 350 F oven for 20-30 minutes. It’s equally delicious as the chilled version, only the cheese melts and it tastes like a stuffed pizza.

— Trish Hennessy