These recipes are named the Anna-Ghoul Files after my cousin Anna (because she liked the bracelet I made her), and after my friend Ghoulie (who seems to think my cooking sounds yummy).

There are three rules to my cooking:

• Vegetarian (not necessarily vegan)
• Cheap
• Easy to prepare

Any one of these, at any time, can top the list.  Vegetarian because I haven’t eaten anything with a face since the early 1990s. Cheap because, if you’ve been following my fighting-the-Man posts, you can see how poor I am. Easy to prepare because, even on a good day, my hands ache.
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This sandwich is named after Dinga Kennedy, because her daddy is the world’s biggest fan of garlic EVER.

 

You will need:

• EVOO (that’s extra-virgin olive oil, but I don’t keep saying it like some cooks)
• ¼ to ½ bulb garlic (that’s bulb, not clove)
• Fresh tomato
• Fresh basil – dried absolutely WILL NOT DO
• Fresh mozzarella cheese
• Fresh multi-grain roll

Measurements are by eye, depesnding on how many you’re serving.  For this recipe, I’ll estimate like if it’s for my mom and me - two people

Using a size-appropriate pan – between two and four times the size of a multi-grain roll - heat a small amount (tbl or so) of EVOO on medium-low to medium. (I usually dial the knob between 3 and 5, throughout.) As it heats –

 

Peel and coarsely chop all the garlic. Add to pan.

 

While the garlic infuses the oil and infuses the room with garlic goodness, slice enough mozzarella to cover the inside of a sliced roll. The best way to slice this soft cheese evenly is to use the egg slicer.

 

Taking enough fresh basil to cover both sides of the inside of a sliced roll, chop coarsely. It’s hard to cut the basil with your teeth as you bite through all the soft layers of this sandwich. Besides, raw basil makes the kitchen smell even better.

 

When the garlic is soft and beginning to get sweet, remove it from the pan. Turn off heat.  Place sliced rolls, insides down, in the oil mixture and cover the pan so as to warm the bread and to soak up the oils.

 

Slice tomato last.

 

Remove rolls from pan, and plate. On the bottom half of the roll, sprinkle basil. Add mozzarella, and the still-warm garlic. Top with the tomato. When slicing for plating, use toothpicks to hold the sandwich together (warning your diners, of course).

 

Garnish with basil.

 

My mom thought that the sandwich needed something – “bacon,” maybe. The next time I made it, hers included a slice of Morningstar Farms fake “bacon.” She was happy.