Grilled Cheese and Pepperoni Sandwich

September. The garden is winding down — the tomatoes are slowing, the squash has surrendered, the green beans are leggy and tough and about done. But the peppers are peaking, the banana peppers fat and yellow and the jalapeños dark green and defiant, like they know they're the last ones standing and they're going to stand as long as they can. I picked a basket of banana peppers Monday and stuffed them — filled with a mixture of cream cheese and cheddar and a little sausage, baked until the peppers blistered and the cheese melted and bubbled. Connie ate six of them and I ate eight and that was supper. Sometimes the best meals are the ones that start with whatever's in the garden and end with a full stomach and no dishes except the baking sheet.

Started smoking a pork shoulder Friday night for the weekend. This one's for Clay — he's coming over Sunday with some guys from his Thursday group, veterans, men Craig describes as 'the kind of men who've seen things,' which is all Craig says about them because Craig understands that what those men have seen is theirs to carry, not his to narrate. I'm making pulled pork and coleslaw and baked beans and cornbread, which is a feed-twenty kind of spread, and there might be eight people coming, but Betty's rule applies: cook for the people who might show up, not just the people who said they would.

Twelve showed up. Twelve veterans, ranging from Clay's age to a man in his seventies who served in Vietnam, standing in my backyard eating pork off paper plates and drinking Coke and sweet tea because this is a sober gathering and my house respects that without being asked. They ate everything. Every scrap of pulled pork, every spoonful of beans, every crumb of cornbread. The Vietnam vet shook my hand and said this is the best pork I've ever had. I said thank you, sir. He said don't sir me, I worked for a living. I laughed. He laughed. That's how you know a gathering went right — when a man who served in Vietnam tells a joke and laughs at it.

After twelve men cleaned every plate in my backyard, I got to thinking about the kind of food that makes people feel welcome — and it’s never fancy. It’s cheese melted on bread, it’s meat with some heat, it’s something you can hold in one hand while you shake somebody’s hand with the other. This grilled cheese and pepperoni sandwich is that kind of food — the kind you make when you want people to sit down, eat, and stay awhile.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 8 minutes | Total Time: 13 minutes | Servings: 2

Ingredients

4 slices sturdy white or sourdough bread
4 slices provolone cheese
2 slices sharp cheddar cheese
24 slices pepperoni
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Instructions

Prep the bread. Spread one side of each bread slice with softened butter. If using, mix garlic powder and Parmesan into the butter before spreading.
Layer the filling. On the unbuttered side of two bread slices, place one slice of provolone, then a layer of pepperoni (about 12 slices per sandwich), then a slice of cheddar, then another slice of provolone. Top with the remaining bread slices, buttered side out.
Cook low and slow. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium-low heat. Place sandwiches in the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, pressing gently with a spatula, until the bread is golden brown and the cheese is fully melted.
Rest and serve. Let the sandwiches sit for one minute before slicing in half. Serve hot.

Nutrition (per serving)

Grilled Cheese and Pepperoni Sandwich — The Kind of Meal That Feeds More Than Hunger