Packed with fresh vegetables, flavorful sauces, and a hearty bread, this sub sandwich is sure to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters.
For the olive salad: – ½ cup green olives – ½ cup dark olives – 3 cloves garlic – ⅓ cup roasted peppers – ⅓ cup canned artichokes – 3 tbsp olive oil – 1 tbsp red wine vinegar – Pinch of salt and black pepper to taste For the sandwich: – 2 medium eggplants – 2 tbsp kosher salt – 2 medium zucchini – 9 tbsp olive oil – 1 tbsp soy sauce – 2 tsp oregano – 1 tsp garlic powder – 1 tsp smoked paprika – Pinch of salt and black pepper to taste – ¼ cup red wine vinegar – 4 small Italian style sub rolls – ¼ lb provolone cheese – 2 Tomatoes – 1 red onion – A few slices of jarred peppers – 1 small thinly sliced iceberg – 4 tbsp mayonnaise
Make the olive salad: Place the pitted olives, garlic, peppers and artichokes into a hand blender and process them until you get small pieces of everything. Pour the mixture in a bowl and add the olive oil and red wine vinegar. Stir with a spoon and try the salad, if the used olives are not salty add a pinch of salt and black pepper to taste. Place the olive salad aside for later.
Wash the eggplants and cut them into long stripes. Place the eggplants in a big bowl and add some kosher salt. Repeat the same process with the zucchini, place them in the same bowl with the eggplants and leave it to stay for half an hour or one hour depending on your time. In a small bowl mix together half of the olive oil, soy sauce, half of the oregano, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and black pepper. Stir with a spoon and set it aside for later. Take the eggplant and zucchini out of the bowl, pat dry them and place them in a bowl together with the olive oil mixture you’ve created previously. Mix everything together and lay the eggplant and zucchini slices in a previously prepared baking tray with baking paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 425°F (220°C) for 25 minutes or until they get a nice brown color. In another small bowl add the rest of the olive oil, red wine vinegar and the rest of the oregano. Stir with a spoon.
Assemble the sandwich: Take one of the bread rolls and cut it in half lengthwise. Take out the middle part of the bread and brush it with the mixture of olive oil, red wine vinegar and oregano. Fold a few slices of eggplant and zucchini on the bottom bread slice. Add some provolone cheese, a few slices of tomato, red onion, jarred peppers and a small amount of iceberg. Put a tablespoon of mayonnaise on the top part of the bread using a spoon to spread it evenly. Add a spoon or two of the olive salad over the mayonnaise and place that bread slice on top of the sandwich. Repeat the assembling procedure for the other 3 sandwiches.