Vegetarian Francesinha

Cuisine

Portuguese

Servings

4

Total time

50 min

Prep

15 min

Cook

35 min

Difficulty

hard

Ingredients

• 8 Count white bread - 8 (slices)
• 5.5 Ounce Tofurky Hickory Smoked deli slices - 5.5 (oz)
• 5 Ounce Field Roast Classic Pizzeria pepperoni - 5 (oz)
• 6 Ounce vegetarian Cabot cheddar cheese - 6 (oz), Slice into pieces thin enough to melt evenly over the sandwiches.
• 1 Can canned tomato sauce - 1 (15-oz can)
• 12 Fluid Ounce lager beer - 12 (fl oz)
• 16 Fluid Ounce vegetable broth - 16 (fl oz)
• 150 Gram yellow onion - 150 (g), diced
• 12 Gram garlic - 12 (g), minced
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil - 1 (tbsp)
• 2 Tablespoon unsalted butter - 2 (tbsp)
• 2 Tablespoon all-purpose flour - 2 (tbsp)
• 1 Teaspoon smoked paprika - 1 (tsp)
• 0.25 Teaspoon cayenne pepper - 0.25 (tsp)
• 1 Teaspoon fine salt - 1 (tsp)

Instructions

1. Preheat and prep

   1. *Preheat the oven to 425°F*, dice the yellow onion, mince the garlic, and slice the Cabot cheddar into pieces thin enough to melt evenly over the sandwiches.

2. Cook the onion

   2. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onion and salt, then cook *6 to 8 minutes* until the onion is *softened and lightly golden*.

3. Build the sauce base

   3. Add the garlic and cook *1 minute*. Stir in the flour, smoked paprika, and cayenne, then cook *1 minute more* to form a fragrant base.

4. Simmer the lager tomato sauce

   4. Whisk in the lager beer, tomato sauce, and vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer, then cook *18 to 22 minutes* until the sauce is *rich, smooth-looking, and lightly thickened*.

5. Blend the sauce

   5. Blend the sauce with an immersion blender until *fully smooth*, then keep it *hot and spoonable* over low heat.

6. Toast the bread

   6. Arrange the white bread on the rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for *4 to 5 minutes* until the slices are *lightly crisp at the edges*.

7. Build the sandwiches

   7. Build 4 sandwiches: on 4 slices of bread, layer the Tofurky Hickory Smoked deli slices, Field Roast Classic Pizzeria pepperoni, and about *one-third of the cheddar*. Cap with the remaining bread and cover the tops with the *remaining cheddar*.

8. Bake and sauce

   8. Bake the sandwiches *5 to 7 minutes* until the cheddar is *melted and draped over the bread*. Transfer to shallow plates and ladle the *hot lager tomato sauce* generously over each sandwich.