Admittedly, it’s a little early in the season to begin talking about garden-based sandwiches. But I actually used the ends of last year’s garden veggies that were chopped up in the freezer for this recipe… so it counts!

This is a typical sausage and pepper sandwich given a nutritional boost via garden veggies and wild greens, fresh harvested from the yard. It’s great for the non-veggie lover, because the peppers and eggplant remain low profile and blend in with the flavor of the sausage. (Especially if you chop the veggies small enough. 😉 ) This is also a great place to give wild foraged greens a try- chances are, you won’t even notice them in amongst all the other goodies.

(V checking out the fresh-harvested greens.)

As usual with my recipes, please feel free to fudge the ingredient amounts and/or choice of add-ins. It’s all up to your pallet! You will need:

• 1 lb Italian sausage (I used loose sausage because I could mix it with the veggies, and I feel it spreads to feed more people.  Use links if you prefer a meatier sandwich.)
• 2 bell peppers, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup add-in veggie, chopped. I used eggplant, but I imagine zucchini, corn, or a combo would be tasty!
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp dried basil (or 1/4 C chopped fresh basil)
• About 2 cups pasta sauce (give or take, depending on how saucy you like it). I used our home-canned pasta sauce from the garden last year- mmm, mmm.
• 1 cup chopped wild greens (I used stinging nettle, plantain leaves, and dandelion leaves– please do look up the identification of these plants if you are unsure of any of them!)
• Sandwich rolls or buns (We frequently use this recipe for easy homemade rolls.)
• Mozzarella and/or Parmesan cheese for topping.

1) Cook sausage, peppers, onion, and add-in veggie together in the skillet. (if your add-in requires less cooking time, add it later with the sauce instead.) Drain the fat.

2) Add in garlic and basil, and cook only 2-3 minutes, or until fragrant.

3) Add sauce (and quick-cooking add-in veggies if you have them) and heat through til it’s simmering.

4) Add greens and cook until wilted, 2-3 minutes. (If you use stinging nettles, DO make sure you cook them so you don’t get an unpleasant surprise.)

5) Slice your sandwich rolls and top with sausage mixture and cheeses. You can eat it just like that, or you can melt it under the broiler for 3 or 4 minutes (until cheese is golden-brown). Watch it carefully- it burns quickly in there!

(The deliciousness about to go into the oven.)

This made about ten sandwiches for us, but a couple of those contained kid-sized scoops of the sausage mixture. It will probably make 4-8 for adults, depending on how much you like to stuff yours with filling. 🙂

This was a hit with everybody at our house! We also served extra sauce to dip in on the side. Hope you enjoy it!