Mushroom, Ricotta and Gruyere Sandwich

Mushroom, Ricotta and Gruyere Sandwich

This pandemic has kept me busy in the kitchen, that's for sure.  My husband and I used to go out to eat at least once a week with friends, I was a trivia host twice a week right at the dinner hour, and there was always some reason to stop by some place else for a dinner to go.  We always seemed to have leftovers in the fridge - really good leftovers. 

Now all of that has changed.  As it has for many of you, I'm sure.   I have spent hours looking through Pinterest, Foodgawker and other assorted places looking for new ideas on what to eat.


I have a giant library of great recipes, but with my MSG and L-glutamic acid avoidance, most of those recipes have to be tweaked a lot or I need to find new recipes.  The past month I have been researching ricotta cheese recipes. I picked up a 3 pound tub of ricotta and gathered together all of the recipes that used it.  I can't have any kind of tomato sauce, so white cheese all the way around. One of my first ricotta recipes we tried was this one - Mushroom, ricotta and Gruyere sandwiches. 

The above picture shows the middle of my prep -- the mushrooms and onions are almost done, the ricotta has been stirred and is ready to be put on the bread, and the Gruyere has been grated.

I didn't find any hearty rustic bread when I went to the store, so I opted for French bread.  I cut the bread in a long diagonal to get as much surface area as I could.  The 5th piece in the photo above, the one in the middle is the end slice that I couldn't just throw away, so I added all the fixings on it.  I thought it might tip over in the baking process since the bottom was rounded, but it stayed upright. 

Here you can really see the layers.  I tried not to overwhelm the bread with the toppings, mostly so we could pick these up and eat them and not have to use a knife and fork.  

I put a big dollop of ricotta mixture on the bread, spread it to all sides then took the bread to the pan with the mushroom mixture.  I used a spatula and gathered up some of the mixture and poured it over the top.  What didn't stick fell right back into the pan.  If more was needed, I did it again.  Doing it this way saved a lot of spilled mushrooms on the sheet pan.

Next up, the Gruyere.  I shredded my own and placed little bundles of cheese on top and made sure to spread the cheese to all edges.  

I slid the tray into the oven, on convection, for about 10 minutes and the photo below was the result.  My husband and I ate these for dinner and we loved every single bite.  The warm melty ricotta softened up the top of the bread just slightly, but created a rich, warm, creamy base.  The mushroom and Gruyere mixture gave more texture to the sandwich and so much flavor!  I forgot that we weren't eating a meat based dish.  The bottom of the bread was browned and crunchy. All in all, this was a fairly quick, absolutely delicious meal.  I do wish I had some chives, but sometimes you just gotta make do.  We are absolutely keeping this on our dinner rotation. 

Mushroom, Ricotta and Gruyere Sandwich
An open faced sandwich with sauted mushrooms, ricotta and Gruyere cheeses - then baked for a few minutes to become warm and toasty.

Yields 4+ sandwiches

snack, appetizer, light dinner or even a hot brunch item

Ingredients
1 T olive oil
1 large onion, diced
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced (or crushed)
1 c ricotta cheese
2 T chives, chopped
4 slices thick sliced bread (rustic style, French baguette)
1 c shredded Gruyere cheese
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Use a non stick liner or parchment paper to line baking sheet.  Or you can use a non stick cooking spray.

Slice French bread diagonally for the open faced sandwiches.  Cut the bread while the onions are cooking.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet - cook onions until translucent and then add in mushrooms.  Stir often until cooked and browned. 

Mix in minced or crushed garlic and cook until full incorporated, about a minute or so, stir constantly. Season with salt and pepper, if so desired. 

Combine ricotta with 1 tbsp. chives, then season to taste with salt and pepper. (I didn't have chives so I minced up some green onion tops)

Brush one side of the bread with olive oil, if you desire, and place oil side down.  I didn't do that for ours.

Spread a spoonful of the ricotta mixture on the bread, top with the mushroom mixture and then top with Gruyere cheese. 

Bake the open faced sandwiches for about 15 minutes, a little less if you are using convection, until the cheese on top is hot and melted.

Top with extra chives if desired.  

Serve immediately.  

adapted from: Hello Little Home

Lemon Basil Dressing - homemade

Lemon Basil Dressing
recipe by Steve Binder

makes 2 cups
2 oz container of basil leaves with small stems* finely chopped
½ cup honey
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
2-4 garlic cloves, crushed
1- 2 the juice of 1-2 lemons
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ c light olive oil (mild)

A local restaurant had the most wonderful lemon basil dressing and we always tried to bring home extra.  We would order extra with our meal but they rarely let us buy some to take home.  That would have been extra extra dressing and I guess that wasn't allowed.  

Enough was enough. We had to have that dressing.  My husband decided he was going to create a dressing that was as good or better than theirs and we would always be able to have it in the house! 

Since I no longer can trust premade dressings, this is made without any unnecessary preservatives, additives, MSG, nothing.  All real pure ingredients - as close as we could reasonably get. 

*I can usually find 4 oz containers of basil at our local Lucky's Market.  I take all the leaves off the big stems and leave the little stems with the leaves.  I whirl it up in the Cuisinart and divide it in half.  I usually get about 2½ ounces of chopped basil this way, so just over 1 ounce of basil per batch once it's all cleaned and chopped.

I put the 1+ ounce of whirled basil back in the Cuisinart.  Add in the lemon juice, minced garlic, honey, cider vinegar, and salt. Blend it all together and leave it running while slowly pouring in the olive oil.  The oil should emulsify the entire batch and it shouldn't separate for many days.  

The emulsifying process is new to me, so I'm not sure how long it will stay together.   But when I just whisked everything together, it stayed together long enough to pour onto my salads.  I like to put the dressing into a nice glass bottle (recycling at it's best - I use glass milk bottles or the Silly Cow hot chocolate mix jars.) I store the dressing in the fridge and when I want to use it, I let the contents warm up a bit and shake it real good to mix everything up again. If it's needed immediately I do a quick zap in the microwave.  

This is what the Lemon Basil dressing looks like when it's been just whisked together, no Cuisinart magic, and allowed to sit for a few minutes.  Just shake and pour to use.  

The photo at the top of the page shows the gifts that I'm giving to friends.  It's about 1 cup of Lemon Basil Dressing, in the Silly Cow jars.  They look so lovely, even though I can't for the life of my get the wording off of the jars.  I've tried a razor blade, nail polish remover, hot soapy water, the dishwasher - everything I can think of.  Sooo, the advertising is still on the bottles. That's the way it goes.  

I use the Lemon Basil dressing on so many things other than salad - steamed veggies, fried calamari, fish, chicken, a drizzle on sandwiches, etc.  It really is that good and versatile.



Lemon Basil Dressing
recipe by Steve Binder

makes 2 cups
2 oz container of basil leaves with small stems* finely chopped
½ cup honey
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
2-4 garlic cloves, crushed
1- 2 the juice of 1-2 lemons
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ c light olive oil (mild)


Prepare all of the ingredients, chop the basil in the Cuisinart, add the honey, vinegar, crushed garlic, juice of lemon(s) and salt.  Pulse until all is incorporated.  Then take the little lid off the top of the Cuisinart and slowly pour in the oil. When incorporated, stop the machine and taste test.  This is where you can add more lemon or salt if needed.  I use small lemons as they are easier to juice, so I usually need two of them. When taste testing is done, pour into desired container for storage in fridge.