By the Glow of the Refrigerator Light: English Muffin Pepperoni Pizza Sandwiches (Patreon)

Hey folks. Welcome to my new series about the kinds of foods that are best eaten by the glow of the refrigerator light. The late night snack that you make for yourself after you've finished reading just one last page of Harry Potter to your tween and before your 4-year-old has woken up to crawl into your bed (I'm assuming everyone's kids follow the same schedule).

These are the kind of food that it's OK (in fact, better) to eat while hovering over the sink with no pants on. The kind you want to share with your dog (or cats). They are the bites never to make it to a plate. The kind of snack that all the experts tell you will interfere with your sleep, but you do it anyway because goddammit, it helps you sleep.

Do they all need a recipe? Probably not, but I'm writing them down anyway.

A few months back, Tessa was performing Butterfly Lovers at Festival Napa Valley, so naturally my first impulse was to offer kind words of encouragement and support, immediately followed by my second impulse: To implore her to head to The Model Bakery in St. Helena to eat one of their insanely delicious breakfast sandwiches made on their legendary English muffins—quite possibly the best English muffins thus far invented by man.

The secret to them is that rather than baking them the traditional way on a flat, dry griddle, they are slow-baked in a layer of clarified butter, giving them a crisp, buttery, lightly flaky, golden brown crust and tall crumb with plenty of nooks and crannies.

Tessa, in her infinite thoughtfulness, bought an extra half dozen (the most they allow you to purchase at a time without a pre-order) and brought them home to Seattle in her bag.

They've been in the freezer ever since, getting slowly doled out one at a time for special occasions.

Tuesday nights at 11pm sure feel like special occasions when you've got a Model Bakery English muffin and all the makings for English muffin pizza in the fridge.

For a Great English Muffin Pizza Sandwich, Start With Great English Muffin Pizza

Earlier that day, I'd made a version of Cook's Illustrated's excellent Italian Meatloaf, a recipe that treats meatloaf essentially as a giant Italian-American meatball served with melted cheese and tomato sauce. When I spied that sauce and cheese in my fridge next to an English muffin and a half stick of pepperoni, my late night snack direction immediately became clear: English muffin pizza (henceforth, EMP).

Believe it or not, EMP and I go back a long way. It was the very first thing I learned how to cook on my own in my kindergarten after-school cooking class. Back then, we used a fork-split muffin, some jarred marinara sauce, pre-shredded mozzarella cheese, and garlic powder. Since then, I've found that a couple extra steps will greatly improve the texture and flavor of the finished pizza. First, toasting the English muffin to give it some structural stability before adding the sauce makes for a EMP with much better texture (no more soggy innards). Next, I prefer using a very simple sauce of good quality crushed tomatoes (I use Bianco di Napoli at home) seasoned simply with some salt.

Good quality cup-and-char pepperoni adds texture and flavor. Finally, a little hit of post-oven chili flakes (or, in this case, Kashmiri chili powder), post-oven Romano (or pam) and a dollop of Calabrian chili flake round it all out for me.

I was ready to call it a day and eat the EMP open-faced as God intended, but, upon seeing those two halves sitting on my cutting board, it struck me that perhaps being the atheist that I am, I may have grossly misinterpreted God's will and that, in fact, the intended form of these EMPs was something more like this:

Was a single EMP sandwich better than two individual EMPs? I didn't have any basis of direct comparison, but I can say that I regret nothing. Except maybe wearing pants.

If you like my oven (the Wonder Oven Pro from Our Place), you can get 10% off until October 14th using the discount code Kenji10. Order here: https://fromourplace.com/collections/j-kenji-lopez-alt

English Muffin Pizza Sandwiches

Yield: 1 sandwich

Active Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 English muffin, split

A couple spoonfuls of high quality crushed tomatoes, such as Bianco di Napoli, seasoned to taste with salt

A few big pinches of shredded mozzarella, Brick, or provolone cheese

10-15 slices of pepperoni (or other toppings, as desired)

A sprinkle of chili flakes, a dollop of Calabrian chili paste, or both (or neither)

A couple pinches of finely grated Pecorino Romano or parmesan cheese

Steps:

Preheat your toaster oven broiler. Split the English muffin and place it, cut-side-up, on a tray. Broil until golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Spread the top of each English muffin half with a spoonful of tomato sauce. Top with mozzarella, Brick, or provolone. Add pepperoni or other toppings as desired. Broil until the cheese is melted and the pepperoni is crisp, about 3 minutes. Remove from oven.

Sprinkle with chili flakes and grated Pecorino or parm. Close the two halves together and eat.