Last week, I took a look in my garden for the first time in a while and I immediately tweeted the following:
My basil plant was overflowing…but I didn’t have any walnuts!
Turned out it was a serendipitous kind of day because not 10 minutes later, as I was reading blog posts, I came to Brittany’s post for Tomato Almond Pesto! Crazy right?!
I immediately whipped up a batch. I loosely followed her recipe. I cut the cheese back to 1/4 cup, left out the salt and tomatoes, and my almonds were raw and unsalted.
As I worked on the pesto, I was formulating an idea for dinner in my head! I had some french bread that was starting to get stale so I knew I wanted to make some sandwiches.
I cut the loaf into two sub-sized pieces, then I sliced a thin strip off the top and hollowed out the middles to make bread boats!
I spread a layer of pesto on the bottom, added a bit of cheese, and then filled the boats with a mixture of veggies, chicken and cannellini beans that I sauteed with some garlic and Italian seasoning. I topped everything off with some spaghetti sauce.
Another sprinkle of cheese and into the oven for 20 minutes at about 375 degrees.
The best part of these boats/subs, according to me, is how crunchy the bread got.
The worst part of these boats/subs, according to the hubby, is how crunchy the bread got.
They were a little messy to eat…but crunchy, crusty bread and a warm, cheesy, saucy middle? That’s a win in my book!
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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Hahaha…I have to agree with your hubby on this one…softer bread is better!!!
[But the whole idea is awesome. :)]
no no…crumb power!
This looks delicious. I’m a big pesto fan but I never thought to make it with almonds. Or to put it in a sandwich like this. How clever!
it’s delicious!
such a creative idea! I love it!!
Great idea Lindsay! Thanks for sharing, hope all is well and that you have a good day today!
you’re welcome 🙂 hope all is well with you too.
That sandwich looks ridiculous good! We’re having toasty sandwiches tonight!! Pesto…especially with fresh fresh basil, rocks!
toasty sandwiches are the way to go!
Great minds think alike! Just made several batches of pesto today..regular with pine nuts, walnut and toasted walnut.
awesome!
ooooooooOooooOOOOh! This has to find its way on to my plate and into my belly. SOON! <3
you know it girl, come on over!
This is such a coincidense. I had a fresh basil plant that I was going to make pesto tonight with and I didn’t have pine nuts, or walnuts! I wondered if I could use almonds. Great idea!
awesome!!! hope it turned out well 🙂
These look awesome! I’m like you…I like crispy, crusty bread! SO good!
isn’t it the best?! i love crumbs 🙂