Midsummer malaise in March...? Novel!

The weather this week has been just absurdly beautiful. The parks around the city are awash with bathers of the sun variety and wafts from the eager barbecue enthusiasts have been drifting in through the suddenly flung wide windows of an otherwise rather chilly student home.  Such a blessing of sunny weather demands a different set of foody delights than might be expected toward the evening of March but nonetheless an impromptu picnic and a few left overs gave me a highly quaffable set of sarnies!

Picnic perfection :)

Cheats Chargrilled Veg and Wensleydale Sandwich (makes 2-4 sandwiches depending upon appetite and quantities)

1 Courgette, washed and sliced into long pieces (a speed peeler works really well for this)

1 Red Pepper, de-seeded and cut into strips

A generous amount of Wensleydale cheese, cut into slices

Half a tsp of Paprika

A little olive oil for frying

Salt and Pepper to taste

A handful of chopped parsley

Some good slices of bread ( I used a malted, seedy loaf and toasted it)

1) Put a frying pan on a high heat and then add the olive oil.  When the oil runs round the pan easily and is hot, add half of the courgette and pepper slices.  They should sizzle as they fall in.  (You don't want to overcrowd the pan so you may need to do this in more than two batches so they cook properly).  

2) Give the veg a toss or a stir now and again and they should begin to take on some colour and soften up a bit.  After about 2 minutes they should be almost done, so sprinkle over a little of the paprika and toss it through.  Cook for a further minute and then remove from the pan and repeat the process with the remaining veg.  

3) When all the veg is cooked return all of the batches to the pan and let them sizzle away a little longer.  It tastes better if the pepper skins get a little blackened.  As soon as the mix has reached this stage and smells wonderful and smokey, stir in the parsley and then remove from the heat.

4) Assemble your sandwich, layer up the cheese and veg and tuck in.  

This recipe assumes that most student kitchens don't have a griddle pan - hence the cheat.  I don't have one (sadface).  But if you are lucky enough to own one, oil the veg in a bowl and then put said oily veg on to the smoking hot griddle pan. Always grease the food not the pan in this instance - top tip!

This sandwich is just awesome sat in the sunshine with good company.  Maybe try different veggies, or dress it with some pesto, or ketchup? The possibilities are endless.

Chargrilled veggies pre-sandwich assembly...