my favorite vegetarian sandwich is....

this pressed broccoli rabe + mozzarella sandwich!

Hey there! On Tuesdays I share easy lunch recipes for paid subscribers.

To me, lunch recipes are especially simple to make and simple to clean-up (of course you can make the recipe for any mealtime that you’d like!).

I always include a number of helpful notes for paid subscribers (i.e. ways to make vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free versions of the recipe and other fun notes/ideas).

Want today’s recipe + thorough list of variations/notes?? Become a paid subscriber today!

ABOUT TODAY’S RECIPE

Today’s lunch-oriented recipe for PRESSED BROCCOLI RABE + MOZZARELLA SANDWICHES comes from my 2018 cookbook Now & Again.

Now & Again was my love letter to leftovers — it features 20 menus and ideas for all sorts of ways to reinvent the leftovers from each menu. While it’s my least popular book, I still love it! And I especially love these sandwiches, which were featured in a simple picnic menu that also included what I called Hikers’ Cookies (basically homemade granola bars baked into cookies rather than bars) and the suggestion to pack ripe nectarines in a container of still-in-their-shells peanuts to act as literal packing peanuts (a tip I learned from one of Lee Bailey’s books).

These simple sandwiches are a vegetarian cross between a New Orleans–style muffuletta (the seeded bun, the generous amount of cheese, the olive salad) and a Philadelphia-style pork and broccoli rabe sandwich.

They’re also inspired by a passage I once read about how legendary food writer M.F.K. Fisher made a guest sit on a wrapped sandwich while they chatted so it would be perfectly pressed in time for lunch. Ha!

When these sandwiches are pressed, the olive and caper mixture soaks into the bread and the cheese and garlicky broccoli rabe become really good friends. The broccoli rabe can also be served as a side dish with the olive mixture spooned on top (or you can mix the lot with cooked pasta and call it dinner).

Two notes about today’s recipe if you have Now & Again:

• I changed the amounts a bit from the original recipe to up the olive salad quantity

• I switched the instructions for preparing the broccoli rabe to make it a little simpler (to blanch it, just put it in a colander in your sink and pour over a kettle of boiling water)

Pressing the sandwiches firmly with a cast iron skillet!

The full recipe is below for paid subscribers, plus notes if you:

• can’t find or don’t like broccoli rabe

• are gluten-free

• are vegan

• want to add meat and are not sure what would work well

• are curious what you could do with leftover garlicky broccoli rabe (or additional broccoli rabe), including notes for:

  • broccoli rabe pesto

  • broccoli rabe + farro salad

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Pressed Broccoli Rabe + Mozzarella Sandwiches

Makes 4 sandwiches

• 1 bunch broccoli rabe (about 3/4 pound), tough stems discarded, roughly chopped

• A kettle of boiling water