Blood Orange Cheese Sandwich with Grilled Bell Pepper and Kale Pesto

For years now I have heard about Kale. The superhero of vegetables. For whatever reason I haven’t gotten to it till now. And then suddenly I had all these ideas of what to do with it. And, if you know me you also know I get really excited about discovering a new food. And if I can’t get to it right away, you’ll also know and see (!) me grunting and growling quite fiercely!

Which is exactly what happened in the case of kale. and hey! I do know why I never got to kale before. It’s because its called boerenkool here in Holland. And the name boerenkool brings forth all sorts of dishes that are far from appealing to me. Now, I am told it can be quite delicious the way they prepare it here and I’ll take your word for it. But, in my opinion food should look pretty, and not like processed baby food! Not trying to offend anyone but I’m just saying…

So where was I? Ah, kale and my pursuit of it. So it seems that I just missed kale season. Which meant no, absolutely no sign of kale anywhere! However, you can find it cut and sealed in bags. Huh??? If you can cut it why the heck can’t you sell it uncut? I looked high and low yesterday but I got exactly the same answer everywhere. Come back in September. Argh! Now, I am an extremely patient person. Uh, in some things anyway. When I decide I want something wild horses usually cannot keep me away. I’ll just stamp my feet and hold my ground. In this case of course, the stamping of feet had absolutely no effect!

After several hours of futile searching I finally did buy the bagged version and decided to turn it into pesto, at least to begin with. But be warned, I will be back with many more kale recipes as soon as I can get my hands on some whole kale leaves!

This sandwich is such a surprise in your mouth, you wouldn’t believe it. Fresh tangy creamy spunky. Try it today because you can’t get healthier than this…

Blood Orange Cheese Sandwich with Grilled Bell Pepper and Kale Pesto

 

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Author: boxofspice

Ingredients

• Kale Pesto
• 40 grams kale
• 40 grams pine nuts
• 40 grams parmesan cheese
• juice of one lime
• 50 ml olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 
  
• For the Sandwich (makes one)
• 2 slices bread (I used a rustic whole grain bread with seeds)
• 1 blood orange, peeled and sliced
• 4 slices gouda cheese
• 1 bell pepper, grilled with a tbsp of thyme
• 2 tbsps kale pesto
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. To prepare the pesto, blitz all ingredients to a paste. I like it a little chunky. Gives it that extra rustic appeal, but you could totally make it real fine. Set aside.
2. To prepare the sandwich, heat a grill pan to high heat. Cut the pepper into 4-5 pieces and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and thyme. Cook on each side until the pepper is soft and tender and slightly blackened. This will give it a nice smoky flavor, about 5 minutes on each side. Pull off the pan and set aside.
3. Slather all 2 slices of bread with the kale pesto, and then pile the sliced blood oranges and peppers onto one side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and add the gouda cheese and top the sandwiches with the second piece of bread.
4. Add a generous amount of olive oil to the pan and cook the sandwich over medium-high heat until golden and crispy on both sides with the cheese melted.
5. Slice in half and serve hot!

3.5.3208