Crispy breaded baked vegetables with pesto in Buns

Imagine a thick-cut fresh vegetable, coated in breading and baked to a golden color perfection 😇

Next imagine the crunchy vegetable slice smothered on one side with fresh pesto and other side with ketchup. Then wrapping this goodness inside of a wholesome sprouted burger bun. Throw in some optional cheese for the kids and there is one-of-a-kind burger.

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Assembling the Burgers10

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Fusion

Servings: 8 sandwiches

Ingredients

For the Vegetable crisp discs - makes 25 discs of 3 vegetable types

1 large Eggplant
2 large Squash
2 large Zucchini
10 tbsps Chickpea flour
10 tbsps Breadcrumbs
***** Gluten-free option - almond flour + cornmeal
10 tsps Olive oil

For the Burgers and Sliders -

4 Burger buns
4 Slider buns
6 tsps Pesto
6 tsps Ketchup
4 slices Cheese optional

Instructions

For the vegetable crisp discs -

Prepare a cookie sheet with a layer of parchment paper and set aside
Cut the vegetables into thick slices, dip them in water and pat dry completely
Season the chickpea paste with salt and chilly powder (optional)
Spread the breadcrumbs on a flat plate
Using one hand for dipping in the paste and one hand for coating the breadcrumbs, do an assembly-line processing of all the eggplant slices
Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on the cookie sheet
Drizzle a spoonful of oil on each of them
Bake in a hot oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes on side, carefully remove the tray and flip them over and drizzle oil; bake for another 8 minutes until golden brown
Repeat steps 1 to 8 for the squash and zucchini
Three types of vegetable discs are now done!

Assembling the Burgers and Sliders -

Toast the burger buns and slider buns on a griddle
Spread a spoonful of pesto on bottom bun, top with crispy eggplant, top with a slice of cheese (optional), finally spread ketchup and close the burger bun on top
Repeat this process with the slider buns but using the smaller sized squash discs
You can also serve these as open faced sandwiches and allow the guest to treat themselves to a variety of condiments - pesto, spicy mustard, ketchup etc.