A Turkey Ham Sandwich Worth Pausing For

I turned last night’s croquettes, and some turkey ham in the fridge, into this. You can, too.

I was in the middle of a busy day today when hunger struck. And I mean hunger, not appetite. You know, the type that makes your stomach growl for food before your brain has even had a chance to think about it.

I paused, walked over to the fridge, swung open the door, and peered inside: Hmm… Last night’s ham croquettes were still there. A package of turkey ham slices lay open on the bottom shelf. Pesto from two days ago on the fridge door. Parmesan cheese in the crisper drawer.

One of the many things I love about cooking is how you can take a few seemingly unrelated ingredients, then meld them together so well, you’d think they always belonged together.

Such was the case with this sandwich:

It started with glass bread, or “pan de cristal,” as the Catalans here call it. It’s this airy, brown-crusted bread made from high-hydration dough so wet that when it’s raw, it resembles pancake batter.

(In a glass bread recipe, which I do encourage you to try out, the King Arthur Baking Company specifies that it’s the protein in bread flour — the gluten — that gives the dough its strength, and the bread its structure.)

You don’t have to be in Catalonia to make this sandwich. You can make it with any type of sourdough bread — ideally, one that’s soft, smooth, and not too crusty. Anyway, I digressed. Back to our sandwich.

I halved the glass bread and toasted the cut sides in a hot pan with butter:

By doing this, I achieved two things:

Through browning, I ameliorated the bread’s aroma and flavor. The browned crust formed a barrier that also kept the bread, which I smeared generously with pesto, from getting soggy.

I cut the ham croquettes into bite-sized chunks and placed them on one half of the sliced bread, topping the other with the turkey ham. Next came the parmesan cheese and the potato chips; one for savoriness and the other for crunch:

The sandwich was nearly done, but it was missing vegetables.

Though I had fresh baby spinach and arugula in the fridge, I went for the arugula to add a spicy kick. Last but not least, I topped it off with two thin slices of tomato, a light drizzle of honey for sweetness, and just a touch of Tabasco for a bit of heat:

I do admit: The assembly was a little tricky as the sandwich turned out tall. Fortunately for me, the tomato slices held the potato chips in place and not a single chip was wasted.

Voilà, the ham-croquette-turkey-ham sandwich (clearly, I have to come up with a better name) was done:

As you might tell by the photo, it was absolutely delicious.

Now, it’s your turn.

Whether it’s ham croquettes, potato croquettes, hash browns, mozzarella sticks, or even chicken fingers, this technique can help you turn any air-, shallow-, or deep-fried leftovers into a sandwich filling.

The turkey ham can be swapped out for chicken ham, or any other deli meat that’s not tough to chew and too salty. (As a rule, you’re looking for processed meat that’s less salty than the croquettes to balance out the flavor.)

The potato chips add a much-needed crunch, and the vegetables add freshness. There’s no need for heavy toppings as the pesto has already done the heavy lifting in that area.

I hope this story inspired you to look at leftovers from a new perspective, and do leave a response to me know how your sandwich turned out if you made one!

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