Portobello Mushroom Grilled Cheese and Pesto Sandwich

In an ideal world, I would have amazing sandwiches for lunch errrday. Delicious slices of bread with lots of scrumptious filling would definitely make my days. Beef steak with rocket, pesto chicken and tomatoes, smoked salmon with avocado, caramelised onion and sausage... Oh my!

In reality, I have pita bread. Plain. On a good day, when I have time to grab something from the kitchen counter and shove it into my bag. Otherwise it's a low calorie day for me!

That's because I don't get up early enough in the morning to make lunch, and I wouldn't make it the night before in the fear it wouldn't taste the same a whole day later. Self-inflicted, really.

So I suffer through the week, but that's what makes weekend lunches so much more to look forward to.

I've still got my massive bag of portobello mushrooms, so they're definitely going to be on the menu today. And tomorrow. And the day after. Hopefully not the day after that, but maybe. 

These meatilicious mushrooms are a great vegetarian sandwich filler because of their texture and flavour. I roasted these in the oven at 200˚C (fan-forced) for 15 minutes or so until all the juices had steamed off and they started getting dry and crispy on the edges. All I added was some olive oil and salt and pepper.

On two thick-cut slices of bread I smeared one side with pesto, and topped the other with cheese. I used Red Leicester. It's actually the first time I've tried it (I bought it because of the beautiful orange colour) and it's definitely something I would go for again. If you don't know what it is either, I'd describe it as similar to cheddar, but milder and more nutty.

Grill those in the oven on the top shelf until the cheese melts and bubbles.

Arrange your mushrooms on top of the slice with cheese. Then top with the other slice. 

The flavours and colours of this sandwich are wonderful. Green pesto + Orange (not red?) Red Leicester cheese + Black portobello mushrooms + Golden toasted white bread.

Depending on the size of your slices of bread, this sandwich can be quite a mouthful and not practically easy to eat. In that case, cut in half and go from there.

I bet you're salivating ;)

Pork, caramelised onion, and halloumi sandwich

In my first year of uni, I would come back to my dingy little flat after a night out and stuff my face. Lots of students prefer to pop by 'maccy-Ds' or Munchies or that cheap greasy chippy round the corner, but after watching one too many intoxicated folks bring up the entire contents of their stomach, I tended to avoid those.

So instead I'd go home and consume toast. Not just one slice, or two slices, or even three. I would have six slices. SIX. 6. S-I-X. That's like half loaf.

Yea, and then I wondered how I gained 15 pounds...

I'm not proud of it, but thinking about it, I find it odd though that so much bread never managed to make me feel full. Whereas, if you have a sandwich for lunch, it's enough.

In fact, more than enough. These pork, onion and halloumi sandwiches don't look massive, but we barely managed to finish these. But we did, of course, because they're amazing.

Another reason I stopped buying food on the way home was because it was expensive. Now a whole pizza for £5 is actually a very good deal, but that half-loaf of bread would've cost me 50p. #studentlife

These pork, onion and halloumi sandwiches are the perfect student budget meal. 

• 4 slices of bread ~ 40p (loaf for £1)
• 1 onion ~ 33p (3 onions for £1)
• 1/4 cucumber ~ 15p (whole cucumber for 60p)
• 1 pork shoulder steak ~ 70p (4 steaks for £3)
• 4 slices of halloumi ~ £1.20 (pack for £2.35)
• TOTAL = 2.78 for two sandwiches = £1.39 per sandwich

£1.39 would probably get you half a ham and cheese sandwich at the student union. Not that there's anything wrong with a ham and cheese sandwich, but c'mon these are so much better!

I just grilled the pork shoulder steak in a very hot pan with a drop of oil (shoulder steaks have some fat in them already), 5 minutes or so on each side or whatever the packet says. Then I left it on a plate to rest while I fried my sliced onion in the pork juices left in the pan. I like my onions very soft and caramelised, so I used a lower heat and a longer time, but it's up to you. Then I dished up the onions too.

You have to wipe your pan clean now. Otherwise all the pork juices and leftover caramelised onions will burn your plan. Then with some more oil on a medium heat, I pan-fried the halloumi slices. They take a few minutes to brown, then you can flip them and do the other side as well.

While waiting for my halloumi, I slid my bread into the toaster, and sliced up by pork. Slice the steak on an angle to get bigger, thinner pieces. Then divide them between two pieces of toast (buttered if you want), top with two pieces of halloumi each, a pile of delicious caramelised onions, and then complete the sandwich with the other two pieces of toast. Slice up some cucumber on the side to make it look healthy. Not that it needs it, it's pretty healthy anyway. I think.

Pork, caramelised onion, and halloumi sandwich.

Go ahead and dig in.