Eggplant Agreement Sandwich

So this is… an eggplant sandwich. Great. Vegetables. Responsible. I like that. That feels safe. Wait. Prosciutto? That’s cured meat. That’s… intense. That’s like the European exchange student of meats. Very confident. And burrata? Oh come on. That’s the cheese that explodes. Why would you weaponize cheese? …Oh no. Hot pepper spread? That’s aggressive. That’s a parent-teacher conference energy. And the artichoke pesto? That’s like someone with a graduate degree in flavor just showed up uninvited. This is supposed to be healthy-ish. It’s eggplant! But it’s also… decadent. It’s creamy and spicy and salty and crunchy from the baguette and I don’t know how to feel about it. It’s sophisticated. It’s complicated. It has layers. Like… like teenagers …I need another bite.

Ingredients

for 4 sandwiches

Paid in Bills Breaded Eggplant
1/2 lb thinly sliced prosciutto
4 ball burrata cheese
1/4 cup hot red pepper spread
1 cup Castroville Artichoke Festival Pesto
1 tbs olive oil (plus 1/4 cup more)
1 Italian pepper
1 tomato
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 bulb fennel
3 cloves garlic
1 tbs tomato paste
1/4 red wine
1 baguette
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with 1 tbs olive oil. Chop the fennel, tomato, pepper, and mince the garlic, add to the hot skillet with the tomato paste and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Cook for about 5 minute until vegetable begin to soften and add the red wine to deglaze skillet. Reduce skillet to medium low heat and allow sauce to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Pre-heat your broiler. Slice baguette into 4 sandwich lengths and then cut to open the sandwich. Brush remaining olive oil onto the inside of the baguette and sprinkle the parmesan on top of the olive oil. Broil open baguette sandwiches until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes.
Spread the Castroville Artichoke Festival Pesto on each of the broiled baguette. On the bottom slice top with a single layer of Paid in Bills Breaded Eggplant followed by a thin layer of the tomato mixture. Continue to layer the eggplant and tomato until gone. Top final layer of eggplant and tomato with 1 ball of burrata cheese per sandwich, breaking open the burrata to expose the creamy center and top with 1 tbs hot red pepper spread per sandwich. Broil bottom of sandwich with cheese for 4-5 minutes.
Once broiled, top the burrata with prosciutto, evenly distributing between sandwiches, and close sandwich with remaining baguette with Castroville Artichoke Festival Pesto.
Serve.