This sandwich is right up there on my favorites list. I love the combination of the sweetly caramelized onions, the earthy mushrooms (I never met a mushroom I didn’t like!) and the creamy, mild Swiss cheese. To me, it is perfect.

Other than the time it takes to caramelize the onions, about 20-30 minutes, depending on how dark and sweet you’d like them to be, this sandwich is very easy to make. You could cut the cook time of this recipe by 5 minutes if you cooked your mushrooms in a separate skillet starting 5 minutes before your onions were done.

 

INGREDIENTS

3 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided

½ large onion, sliced into half circles

5 ounces baby portabella mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

½ cup freshly shredded Swiss cheese, divided

4 thick slices of bread (Italian, French, sourdough, or your favorite)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature

 

DIRECTIONS

Add 2 tsp. of vegetable oil to a skillet and heat it over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, place onions in the pan with ½ tsp. of salt, and begin cooking. It takes quite a long time to caramelize onions (20-30 minutes). Halfway through this cooking time, turn your heat down to medium. Watch your pan to ensure it doesn’t dry out, adding 1 Tbsp. of water, as needed. Cook the onions until they are soft and have a good dark brown, caramelized color. Remove them to a bowl and set aside.

Put the same skillet back on the burner and add the remaining teaspoon of oil. Place the mushrooms and the remainder of the salt in the skillet, cooking until the mushrooms have softened (5 minutes). Remove to a bowl and set aside.

Preheat your oven broiler.

Butter both sides of each piece of bread. Place the bread slices on a baking sheet and broil for 1 minute on each side. Carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven to a flat, heat-resistant working surface. Be careful not to touch the baking sheet, as it will be very hot. If this seems too hazardous to you, remove the broiled bread to a new baking sheet.

Now begin assembling your sandwiches, as follows: Place caramelized onions on two slices, top with mushrooms and then ¼ cup of shredded Swiss cheese, each. Place the baking sheet back under the broiler for 1-2 minutes, until cheese melts and bubbles.

Remove baking sheet from oven and carefully plate the two sandwich bottoms, using a spatula. Place the remaining bread slices on top of each sandwich bottom, gently pressing down with the spatula. Slice in half and serve!

USE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW

NEXT

Quick Tip:  Look in the produce section of your local market for mushrooms that have already been washed and sliced. Slicing a freshly washed, whole mushroom is hard, because the water makes them slippery.

Recipe courtesy of Julie at Table For Two, photo courtesy of recipegirl.com