Add One Herbaceous Ingredient To Your Tomato Sandwich For A Gourmet Upgrade

Comfort sometimes comes from the most mundane things, like a tomato sandwich neatly put together from familiar ingredients. You hardly need anything elaborate, just toasted white bread, juicy sliced tomatoes, mayonnaise, and a bit of seasoning. Yet the result is unfailingly satisfying. Could it get any better, you may ask? The answer is yes — if you spread basil pesto on your tomato sandwich.

You don't have to be an Italian cuisine aficionado to know how amazing pesto is. This sauce's ability to add a flavor punch is well-proven in pizzas, pasta, salads, grilled meat, and obviously, tomato sandwiches. Although nothing too new or complicated, it's the sauce's garlicky and herbaceous taste that gives this classic sandwich a big upgrade, playing on a tried-and-true flavor combination of basil and tomato. And since you've already got the basil pesto and tomatoes, a Caprese sandwich is only a short leap away. Grab some fresh basil, throw in a few slices of mozzarella cheese, and seal the deal with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. 

If you're not feeling that combination, just make a pesto aioli (pesto mixed with mayonnaise) and spread it on in place of regular mayo. And you aren't confined to just using classic Genoese basil pesto, either. Especially if you're making your own pesto from scratch.

The fun starts the moment you're whipping up the pesto for your tomato sandwich. This sauce leaves quite a lot of room for personalization, so have fun making different types of pesto. Sometimes just one or two extra ingredients or a switch-up of the essentials are enough to make a difference. Arugula, kale, or spinach are all great for highlighting the sauce's earthy elements or opt for mint if you want to impart a stronger peppery undertone. The nuts are also open to personal interpretation, with pistachio, walnuts, and cashews as lovely substitutes for the familiar pine nuts.

Tying into the sandwich's tomato theme, red pesto is the special spin on traditional pesto that's worth a try. The color difference comes from one major ingredient swap, in which the herb or leafy green is replaced by sun-dried tomatoes, and sometimes even roasted red peppers. Red pesto offers a strong umami, subtly sweet flavor profile, while still maintaining the usual nutty, tangy nuances. Needless to say, it goes exceptionally well with the fresh tomatoes, filling your senses with the liveliness of this summer harvest.

As for bread, you don't have to stick with a classic white loaf. You can even make a panini simply by using Italian bread varieties such as ciabatta or herby focaccia. Then, just one extra step of grilling or toasting the sandwich, along with pressing it, and you'll have a scrumptious gourmet tomato-pesto panini just like that.