Pesto Chicken Lasagna Sandwich

Directions

1. Cut your medium onion into long strips. Place in pan over medium heat, pour in 4 tbsp of oil, and cook for 15-20 minutes until onions are crispy and caramelized.
2. When taking the onions out of the pan, tilt the pan and use a slotted spoon to only get the onions and not the oil. Once all the onions are removed, SAVE the oil! We will be using this oniony oil to toast our bread. So, pour the oil in a bowl and set aside.
3. While waiting for the onions to caramelize, in a large stock pan bring water to a boil and then cook your lasagna noodles according to their package directions.
4. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water for your pesto. Drain your noodles and then top them with a wet paper towel in the colander to prevent them from drying out.
5. Trim the stems from your parsley and basil. Place into the blender / food processor.
6. In the onion pan, place your pistachios. Toast over medium heat until nuts are fragrant, about 3-5 minutes depending on your stove. The edges of your pistachios should start to brown. Once this happens, pour this mixture into your blender / processor.
7. Add your oil, either grape seed, olive, or avocado oil. Then add 1/4 cup of your pasta water! The starches in this will help your pesto be a little thicker and transform this ordinary sauce into something special.
8. Once you have everything in the blender or food processor, blend until things are cut up, but do not over blend!! You want to make sure that there are pieces of nuts and herbs that are not blended into the sauce completely.
9. If you can, have your butcher pre-pound your chicken to be flat and thin. If not, you can always use a meat mallet at home and pound the chicken thin between two pieces of wax paper or parchment paper.
10. In a bowl, combine your breadcrumbs, pepper, garlic powder, and flour. In your other bowl, break your eggs into it and stir until they are combined. Add in your milk and brine and stir to combine until everything is thoroughly mixed in.
11. In a large frying pan, heat 1/2 inch of frying oil (corn, canola, vegetable, etc) over medium heat. You want to wait until the oil starts to “shimmer”.
12. While you’re waiting for your oil to heat, dredge your chicken! Put a thinned piece of chicken into the egg mixture, then into the breadcrumb mixture. Make sure the piece of chicken is completely coated with breadcrumbs.
13. Drop into the hot oil and cook until the chicken is golden brown, about 3-5 minutes on each side. Once the chicken is cooked, place on a paper towel lined plate and set aside.
14. Now it is time to assemble your sandwich! In a toaster, toast your slices of sourdough until golden brown.
15. Remove your bread from the toaster and using a pastry brush or the back of a metal spoon, liberal oil the inside of your sandwich bread with your reserved onion oil.
16. Begin to build your lasagna on top of the toast. For my sandwich, I layered ricotta on bottom, then the caramelized onions, a lasagna noodle, another brushing of the onion oil on top of the noodle, pesto, the chicken, ricotta, another lasagna noodle, tomatoes, ricotta, pesto, and then topped it off with another lasagna noodle. Depending on your hunger level, you can adjust this order as you see fit.
17. Cut in half and then enjoy!