Broccoli Rabe, Pear, and Fontina Sandwich Recipe

When eating at home, I attempt to make up for what I dub the "frat guy" diet I follow when traveling for work. This diet involves long stretches of eating nothing but vending machine food or candy bars grabbed while checking out at the supermarket then binging on pizza, french fries, and peanut butter and jelly straight from the tub and glass jar.

Green is not a color I spy very often while on this regime (except when it's a candy shell coating), hence my diligent efforts to incorporate it onto this sandwich.

Broccoli rabe is one of my favorite vegetables: very assertive, bitter, and if cooked properly, crisp-tender and fresh. My rabe-cooking technique is quick and packs a hefty flavor punch: drop the broccoli rabe in boiling salted water for a brief dip, drain and chop, then sautée in olive oil with anchovy fillets, Aleppo pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, and finely grated lemon zest. I begin picking out pieces even while it's still cooking.

But rabe can verge on acerbic and some bunches make me wince a bit. To tame it, I drizzle with honey or sprinkle with golden raisins, but recently, my fruit bowl has been piled high with pears, so I gave them a go in this sandwich.

Garlicky, spicy, and bold, the sautéed broccoli rabe is pressed between two walls of crusty bread and glued together with oozing Fontina, whose fattiness does a lovely job of further balancing its bite. The grainy-fleshed Bosc pears bring an unexpected but completely oh-this-makes-sense sweetness to the combination. Feel free to dip in honey when serving.