Last week I wanted to have sandwich, but not the same old regular sandwiches. I wanted something different. In our household bread makes its entry only if there is strong chance of it being used within one or two days. S hates looking at the bread packet sitting idly in the kitchen. As I was saying there was no bread at home on the day I wanted to make this sandwich. Quickly we ran down to the nearest supermarket and got a French loaf and I immediately set out to make this caramelized onion mushroom sandwich. The idea for this recipe was from a cookery show in TV where onions were caramelized. I added some caramelized mushrooms as well and the result was super amazing. While I decided to have these as open sandwiches with just few leaves of lettuce, S had opted for eggless mayo as well as some mustard. All in all, both the versions were enjoyed.

  1. In a nonstick pan, heat one teaspoon of oil. Add finely sliced onions. Fry for 2 mins. Add brown sugar, salt and pepper powder. On medium or low heat, keep frying the onions until they turn a nice brown color. If required, add few teaspoon of water every now and then, scrape the bottom of the pan to get the caramelization. It should take about 10-12 mins.
  2. In another nonstick pan, heat 1 teaspoon of oil. Add cubed mushrooms and cook them for a couple of mins. Add salt and soon, the mushrooms would leave water. Cook until all the water evaporates. Keep cooking the mushrooms until they turn a good brown as well. This should take about 10 mins. Bring these caramelized mushrooms to the onions along with chilli flakes. Mix well.
  3. To assemble, cut the French loaf into 2 parts and cut each part at the center. On a heated pan, with ½ teaspoon of oil, toast them slightly until edges turn crispy. On each bread slice, put over some lettuce leaves and add a generous helping of the caramelized onion mushroom. If required, mayo can be spread on the bread before placing the lettuce and mustard on top.
  4. Serve immediately!

This sandwich can be made using regular bread too. Toasting the bread is optional but I found it to be good. Be careful while caramelizing onions or mushrooms. There is a difference between burning/charring vs caramelization. Keep cooking on low flame until they turn golden color to brown. This sandwich can be had as an open sandwich or a closed one. If you want to make a closed sandwich, just layer a piece of bread with mayo and lettuce and cover it on the onion mushroom filled bread. Mustard and Mayo are optional.