Growing up, I believe I had ham and cheese sandwiches maybe three times. My mom had found a recipe in a cookbook, and one day she announced she was going to make me a Hawaiian sandwich (The recipe included a piece of slices pineapple from a can, thus Hawaii). It was great, but once you open a can of pineapples you are committed to doing something with the remaining 9 slices, so my mom quickly stopped making the sandwich. A couple of weeks ago I had a dream about it (the dream also involved Jay Leno having purchased a personal Nuclear Missile painted bright red with warning signs, which was bolted down in his back yard with chains. Don’t ask, it was a dream). As you can imagine, it got stuck in my subconsciousness. I know, dreaming of sandwiches probably means we’re spending too much time writing this blog. Anyway, here is my variation of a Ham and Cheese Sandwich, without the pineapple.

Sandwich Recipe

• 2 slices of sourdough bread
• 2 tsp butter
• 1 piece of ham (2 if you’re hungry)
• 2 tsp mustard
• 2 tbs shredded Parmesan cheese
• 3 slices of fresh mozzarella cheese
• 2 steamed or grilled asparagus
• 4 leaves of fresh basil
• 1 sliced tomato (enough to cover bread)
• Optionally: 1 tsp dukkah

Spread 1tsp of butter on each slice of bread. On one slice, add the mozzarella cheese. On the other, add the ham, and spread the mustard on top, then cover with slices of tomato. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese and dukkah on top. Toast both slices in a toaster oven until golden brown. Place the basil leaves and steamed asparagus on the ham, and close the sandwich by placing the bread with cheese on top. Enjoy while warm.