Something Savory, Cause it's Gonna Get a Whole Lot Sweeter!

The weeks have been flying by, unlike the piles of work stacked on my desk! With just about three weeks left of my college career, I know my time for blogging will be ZERO between now and then. So I’m going make this post short and sweet. But first, speaking of sweet…  it’s going to be getting a lot sweeter around here because this practicing foodie is officially going to PASTRY SCHOOL in September!! To explain how thrilled I am would take a ridiculous amount of time because I could quite honestly go on forever! But for now, I will give you this, a recipe for (yet another) Tartine Bakery inspired creation. I am counting down the days (26ish) till I can get back into Blogger mode!!!

This is simple and fantastic! Perfect for a small dinner party (or a party of one), served with steamed artichoke and red wine.

Vegetable and Raclette cheese Open Faced Sandwiches
Inspired by Tartine Bakery’s Croque Monsieur

Ingredients

1 large loaf of crusty bread
1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and roasted
3-4 zucchini, sliced thin lengthwise, grilled or sautéed
2 crates of cremini mushrooms (or baby bellas), sliced and sautéed
Sundried tomatoes
2 garlic gloves
Pesto
1 package of Raclette cheese

Slice the bread in thick 1/2'” slices. Brush each slice with olive oil and grill or bake until just golden. I used my le creuset grill pan. Once golden, rub garlic clove on one side while still warm. Don't forget the best part... snacking on the butt of the bread while you cook.

In the meantime, prep all other ingredients. Roast the asparagus in olive oil and salt. Grill the zucchini (in grill pan) or sauté it in olive oil. Sauté the mushrooms in olive oil and salt as well. And slice the cheese (warning, it is a super stinky cheese and it is soft so it may be hard to cut) into fairly thin slices.

Once all is ready, spread pesto on each slice of bread. Then pile anything and everything on top, go crazy. Throw whatever ingredients you don’t use into a salad the next day. Next, place a single layer of cheese on top of the veggies.

Broil until the cheese has melted and gotten a little golden around the edges, but make sure the bread has not burnt! Keep checking after 3 minutes or so.

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