Caprese Sandwich with Pesto

This delicious caprese sandwich features fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, spinach, and pesto. Drizzle on some balsamic glaze and grill it for a real taste delight.

Jump to Recipe

About this Caprese Sandwich with Pesto

When is a sandwich not just a sandwich? The word sandwich might conjure up the boring thing you take to work for lunch, but this caprese sandwich with pesto stands out from the crowd. We picked up a couple of these sandwiches for take-out recently and right away I knew I had to make some and post the results here. The ingredients are easy to find at your local market and making it is a cinch.

Ingredients

• Sourdough bread – or use ciabatta bread if that’s available
• Fresh mozzarella cheese – use the loaf type
• Tomato – slice one large tomato
• Basil pesto – full of garlic, basil, olive oil, and pine nuts
• Fresh spinach – adds some healthy greens to your sandwich
• Balsamic glaze – provides a sweet, tart flavor

Types of fresh mozzarella

When you look for fresh mozzarella cheese in your local grocery store, you might find it in either a loaf or as small balls of cheese that are smashed together. The latter is good when you’re making pizza because you can pull off the little balls and put them on the pizza dough. As they bake, they melt and spread out. The best type of mozzarella for this caprese sandwich is the mozzarella loaf. With the loaf, you can slice the cheese to the desired thickness and place it on your sandwich.

Why Use Balsamic Glaze?

Just as vinegar brings out the flavor in many dishes from beans to greens, balsamic glaze helps bring out the flavors in this caprese sandwich. Balsamic glaze is just balsamic vinegar with a little sugar that has been slowly reduced into a thick, dark glaze. It’s sweet and tart at the same time. A little bit goes a long way, but it’s a great addition to this sandwich.

Making a Caprese Sandwich

Step 1: Layer the ingredients on the bread

• Slice the mozzarella cheese and the fresh tomato. Slices that are about 1/4 inch work well.
• Spread the pesto on one slice and add the spinach, tomatoes, and cheese.
• Drizzle on some balsamic glaze.

Step 2: Grill the sandwich

• Put the other piece of bread on top.
• (Optional) add a little olive oil to the bread.
• Grill on medium heat for 3-5 minutes.

• Turn the sandwich over and grill for another 3-5 minutes.

Serve Caprese Sandwiches

When the caprese sandwiches are done, slice them in two so all of the delicious ingredients show.

These sandwiches go with your favorite chips or with air-fryer potatoes. Put the balsamic glaze on the table in case anyone wants to add more of that.

What does caprese mean?

The word caprese simply refers to a salad from the region of Capri in Italy. According to this source, the first caprese salad was made by an Italian patriot who wanted to display the colors of the Italian flag on a plate. Instead of the pesto used in my version here, a caprese salad features mozzarella cheese, basil, and fresh tomato slices representing the white, green, and red of the Italian flag. The first caprese sandwich was made in the 1950s and, as they say, the rest is history. But you don’t have to be Italian or a history buff to enjoy this simple, tasty sandwich.

What type of bread is best for a caprese sandwich?

When you buy a caprese sandwich in a restaurant or as takeout, it is typically made with a thick type of roll like a ciabatta bun or something like that. When I went in search of bread I couldn’t find any ciabatta rolls but I did find some fresh sourdough bread and I opted for that. It tasted fine and I would definitely go that route again. But an advantage of thicker bread or some type of bun is that it keeps the pesto from leaking through the bread. If you have a good source for ciabatta rolls or focaccia bread, you might want to try one of those.

Other recipes you might like

If you’re in the mood for Italian food you might also like polenta chickpea marinara or lasagna roll-ups. If you like pesto, try cheesy smashed potatoes with chickpeas.