These Open-Faced Burst Tomato & Pesto Sandwiches are flavor-packed with seasoned tomatoes, vegan basil pesto, arugula and balsamic vinegar.
One of my favorite things to make during the Summer is PESTO! It is so easy to vegan-ize pesto and it has so much flavor - you will want to put it on everything!
These sandwiches are so simple to make, but have SO MUCH flavor. I'm telling you, this will be on your menu all Summer long. You won't be able to get enough of them!
How to make vegan pesto
Vegan Pesto is super easy. Round up your ingredients - basil, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper.
Add it all to a food processor and blend until you have your desired consistency. You can add less oil for a more chunky pesto, or more oil for a more saucy pesto. I went with a chunkier pesto for this recipe because I wanted it to be more rustic. But either way will work!
You can also check out some of my other pesto recipes:
How to cook the best burst tomatoes
Burst tomatoes on the stove are one of my favorite things, like ever. They take way less time to make than roasting them, and taste AMAZING!
Cook them up in a pan with olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, Once they begin to soften and burst, they are ready. It's really that simple!
How to assemble these open-faced burst tomato pesto sandwiches
To assemble these bad boys, toast your bread. I used a ciabatta baguette - you can use whatever kind of bread you want, but I recommend using something sturdy.
Once the bread is nice and crispy, spread a layer of pesto on each slice, followed by tomatoes, arugula, basil, balsamic vinegar & pepper.
That's it! These taste great hot off the stove or at room temperature. You can't go wrong either way!
Open-Faced Burst Tomato & Pesto Sandwiches
Ingredients
FOR THE BASIL PESTO
- 2 cups basil gently packed
- ½ cup pine nuts
- 2-3 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 lemon juiced
- salt & pepper to taste
- ¼-1/2 cup olive oil
FOR THE SANDWICHES
- 1 baguette (approx. 12 inches long) I used ciabatta
- olive oil
- 12 oz cherry tomatoes halved
- salt & pepper to taste
- red pepper flakes optional
- arugula
- fresh basil
- balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Combine all of the pesto ingredients (except the olive oil) in a food processor. Pulse a couple of times until combined, scraping down the sides as needed. Slowly add the olive oil until your desired consistency is reached - I used ¼ cup because I wanted a chunkier pesto. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the tomatoes and a sprinkle of salt, pepper & red pepper flakes. Cook until tomatoes start to burst (approx. 5-7 minutes). Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
- Cut baguette down the center and into 4 equal pieces. Spray or brush with olive oil. Heat a griddle over medium-high heat. Place the olive oil side down on the pan and cook until toasted. Remove from the heat.
- To assemble, spread an equal amount of pesto on each slice of bread, followed by the tomatoes, a handful of arugula, basil, balsamic vinegar and more black pepper.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Video
Nutrition
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If you make this recipe be sure to snap a photo + post it + and tag #thissavoryvegan and @thissavoryvegan!
Emily
I love your gold silverware! If you don’t mind sharing, where is it from?
Claire
So good! I’m not much of a tomato person normally but I really liked this! Great way to use up pesto/basil.
Rene
So glad you liked it!
Hayley
These were really good! I added a couple tablespoons of vegan Parmesan to the pesto, and I drizzled a balsamic glaze overtop instead of balsamic vinegar just because my vinegar is really runny. I cannot get enough tomatoes and basil this time of year so you’re totally right these will be on repeat all summer long!
Rene
So glad you liked it - and yes, tomatoes and basil are a MUST this time of year 🙂
Alexi
Was inspired to make this today! I roasted my tomatoes in the oven with some garlic and fresh basil instead of cooking them in a pan, and used store-bought vegan pesto. Loved it! Made for a great lunch. Will 100% make this again.
Rene
So glad it worked out roasting them in the oven!