Provolone

Up to a day before baking, Tortilla Melts can be assembled, wrapped in foil, and refrigerated. Bake in the foil for about 15 minutes and then remove the foil and bake for about 5 minutes more for the tortillas to crisp. Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to a week and reheat well.

This sandwich was a real crowd-pleaser when it was on the ’wichcraft menu, popular with adults and kids alike. Why? Probably because it tastes like pizza! We prepare it as a pressed sandwich, but it also works beautifully grilled in a pan with a little olive oil, or if you don’t want to add any fat, heat it open-faced in the oven until the cheeses melt. The mozzarella is milky and gooey, with a great mouth feel, and the provolone adds personality. Roasting tomatoes concentrates their flavor and caramelizes their sugars; it’s a great way of getting the best of a tomato when it’s not at the height of the season. When herbs are a primary ingredient, only fresh will do. But when they are used as a seasoning, as in this sandwich, dried work very well. One way to ensure you have high-quality dried herbs is to dry them yourself. Take a bunch of fresh oregano, tie it up at the stem end, and hang it upside down to dry, outside if possible, but wherever there is plenty of air circulation. When the herbs are thoroughly dry and the leaves fall off the stems at the touch, crumble the leaves, store them in a jar, and use them as long as the flavor remains strong and pleasing, about 2 months.

The word braciola is used in different regions of Italy to describe different cuts of meat. But in southern Italy, braciola refers to a dish where a slice of meat is topped with different ingredients and rolled up and baked. It’s moist, rich, and very flavorful, and it’s actually easy to make, although not quick: In order to make this cut of meat moist and tasty, it needs a good amount of oven time. I like to serve it at holiday dinner parties or for Sunday supper. You will need kitchen twine to tie the rolled flank steak.

The first thing that I have to do on any visit to Philadelphia is get myself a cheesesteak. Whether it’s from Tony Luke’s, Gino’s, or Pat’s, I can’t do anything until I’ve had one. I always order mine with Provolone cheese and lots of hot peppers, and you’ve got to do what the locals do and say “wit,” as in with griddled sweet onions and bell peppers. All of those toppings do make for one great sandwich, but move them onto a burger . . . now that’s what I’m talking about! And I don’t even need to leave my home state to get my fix.

Layers of mushroom slices, red bell peppers, and cheese, all seasoned with a sweet-and-sour onion mixture, combine to create a unique sandwich.

Growing up on the East Coast, it wasn’t hard to find all sorts of pickled peppers, both sweet and hot. You couldn’t go anywhere near a cheesesteak place in Philly without seeing them. In Los Angeles, they’re less common, but most grocery stores have at least one or two varieties. One of my favorites is sweet cherry pepper rings. They add plenty of flavor without any fat—you can’t go wrong with that.

This sandwich is great as a snack. The recipe makes only a half-sandwich, but it’s a meaty half-sandwich (great protein-to-carb ratio). I often eat it with an orange or banana, and it’s the perfect amount of food. Did you know that 4 ounces of deli turkey (or other deli meat) often contain as much as 1,200 mg sodium? If you’re watching your sodium, oven-roast your own skinless turkey breast at home and slice it down very thinly for deli meat. This will not only save you money but also allow you to control the amount of salt in the meat. If you can’t roast your own turkey breast, be sure to look for lower-sodium varieties of deli turkey.

Gina: Red grapes, chunks of provolone cheese, and crunchy almonds give this smoked turkey salad more personality than the old school mayo based options. For added color and crunch, toss the salad with a few handfuls of field greens, so they get coated in the creamy dressing. Serve this salad on soft whole grain sandwich bread or ciabatta rolls.

New Orleans is one of our favorite “kick back” vacation destinations. We go there for the people, the food, the music, and the overall vibe. New Orleans is second only to Memphis in vibeness. We also go there for the sandwiches, and always make a point of digging into one of their most famous, the muffuletta, every time we visit. It’s a killer sandwich, made with spicy Italian meats, cheeses, and a knockout marinated olive salad, the aroma of which is so powerful that when you’re waiting in line it’ll cause you to salivate! Our Memphis Muffuletta has bayou roots for sure. We start with a large round Italian loaf with a sturdy texture, so it can hold up to the delicious mix of ingredients. The meats and cheeses vary, but our favorite is a muffuletta with salami, hot soppressata, mortadella, smoked turkey, Swiss, and aged provolone. Our Memphis kicker is the addition of smoky piquillo peppers from Spain. They infuse the piquant olive salad with an incredible flavor. When it comes to cheese, we go for two flavorful varieties—an imported Swiss and an aged provolone. We call this our backyard sandwich, because it’s actually best if you assemble it in advance and allow it to marinate for about 30 minutes on the cutting board. Then you can cut the big loaf into eight wedges and have dinner on the patio. In New Orleans tradition, serve this sandwich with a cold Abita beer and some spicy Zapp’s potato chips.

This zippy Italian-style hero proves that a vegetable sandwich can be as hearty as one made with meat. We take colorful slices of grilled, lightly charred vegetables, an oil-and-vinegar dressing, tapenade (a pungent black-olive spread), fresh basil, and provolone cheese, and serve the whole things on a crackly seeded roll that will keep its texture while soaking up the delicious dressing. This satisfying sandwich is delicious with spiced Terra sweet-potato chips.

Cherry peppers are plump, round peppers that are usually sold pickled in vinegar. They range in color from bright red to dull green, and in spiciness from mild to hot. Good in salads and as part of an antipasto tray, they add a kick to cooked dishes, too, like the Chicken Scarpariello on page 262.These stuffed cherry peppers will look very nice and go a long way to dressing up an antipasto table if you use both red and green peppers. Sometimes you will see these already stuffed hot peppers marinating in oil and vinegar. You can do the same by packing the stuffed peppers into a clean jar and pouring the liquid from the jar of cherry peppers and some olive oil over them. Store them in the refrigerator for up to a few days like that, but be sure to drain them well before you serve them, or they will be messy to eat.

Classic Salisbury steak is a patty made of ground beef and seasonings that is fried in butter or oil and smothered in a brown sauce. Although it was once considered health food by its inventor—a 19th-century English-American physician named James Salisbury—it’s really not. This grilled version, made with ground turkey breast and fresh vegetables and smothered in a low-fat cheese sauce, makes the grade.