Hello all! It’s been a while! I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus! Between cousins, siblings, and husband college graduations, traveling to three different states, and renting out the studio to various companies, I’ve been a busy freaking beaver. Add on that with my other company, Alysha Yoder Photography, my wedding/family session season has started and I’m a crazy editing shooting lady. So when I’m cooking, I’m looking for quick meals that taste good and that’s where this sandwich came from! This recipe takes less then five minutes to throw together. Back in the oven for 15 minutes and voila, you got yourself a killer filling sandwich. Plus, it’s a bit different then your every day sandwich with some great flavors to boot!
Also, here are some good tips for the perfect sandwich melt:
- Toast bottom bread piece on the sandwich before piling it with meats/cheeses and baking, it ensures that you don’t have a soggy bread bottom.
- Butter the top piece of bread to get a nice toasty golden brown bread top. Plus you get that butter to brown on top which adds great flavor.
- Do sprinkle the top of your sandwich bread with a little garlic salt, ranch powder, or fresh cracked pepper to add a little flavor. If you do this when it just comes out of the oven, you’ll get some aromatics too because you’re activating the oils in the seasonings!
- Instead of your typical beef pastrami, look for turkey pastrami in stores! It’s lower in fat and calories!
- Bake your sandwich on parchment paper! This ensures your sandwich won’t stick to anything and when that cheese melts and gets all that yummy crispy cheese skirt around your sandwich, it’ll all some with your sandwich, no sticking!
Pastrami Melt w/ Jalapeno Coleslaw
Ingredients
For Sandwich Melt
- 8 slices rye bread
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 lb thinly sliced pastrami (sub for turkey pastrami for less fat!)
- 8 slices Swiss cheese
- 4 tbsp favorite mustard (we used whole grain)
For Coleslaw
- 1/2 fresh jalapeno, deseeded and chopped
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar (sub for sugar free sweetener for sugar free option)
- 1/4 cup mayo
- 1/2 14 oz bag pre-shredded coleslow mix
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. In a medium bowl, mix together apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir until salt and sugar have dissolved. Cut jalapeno in half and de-seed. Finely chop half of jalapeno and add to vinegar. Let sit for 15 minutes (perfect cooking time for sandwich). On a baking sheet, place a piece of parchment over it toast half of bread (these will be sandwich bottoms) and place bread pieces on parchment. Butter un-toasted bread half of the pieces and face them butter side up. On remaining four toasted pieces evenly distribute pastrami and then place two pieces on cheese on top of pastrami. Place in oven for 10-15 minutes or until cheese has melted completely (can get golden brown too if you like some crunchy cheese!). Remove from oven. Spread a tablespoon of mustard on each piece of sandwich-top bread pieces. Into jalapeno mixture add mayo and stir until combined, then add coleslaw mix and stir to combine. Place evenly on top of meat/cheese melt and then top with toasted bread tops (mustard side down). Serve immediately and enjoy!
