This is surely one of our favorite recipes from The Short Stack Cookbook, which is saying something because there are 150 amazing other recipes to choose from. But at the end of the day, simplicity combined with deliciousness is a powerful combo, and this sandwich delivers on both fronts. It's best when made with height-of-the-season ripe tomatoes, but we won't tell anyone if you want to make it in the winter and sub in roasted tomatoes instead. 

Room-Service Tomato Sandwich

MAKES 1 SERVING

There’s an entire genre of recipes dedicated to curing hangovers, which is bogus, really, because who wants to cook while hungover? Nobody, that’s who.

This recipe won’t cure a hangover, but it was born from one. On the room service menu of the Ace Hotel in New York, there’s a breakfast sandwich that contains an army of greasy, headache-fighting ingredients: eggs, cheese, bacon—the works. But the most defining article of this morning-after meal (besides the fact that someone will bring it to your bedside) is the broiled cheese that lines the outside walls of the sandwich, croque-monsieur-style.

The version we make at home isn’t quite so salacious; the tomato and sprouts could even fool someone into thinking it was healthy. But make no mistake: This sandwich has a night of heavy drinking in its bones, and it’s all the better for it.

1 very ripe slicing tomato, such as beefsteak

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 slices white bread (any bread with a little bit of sweetness will work—Pullman, brioche, potato bread, etc.)

1/4 cup (60 ml) mayonnaise, homemade or store-bought, divided

1/2 cup (50 g) finely grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup (12 g) alfalfa sprouts

Preheat the broiler.

Cut the tomato crosswise into ½-inch-thick slices and lay them flat on a plate. Sprinkle each slice with salt and pepper and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.

Arrange the bread on a baking sheet. Spread about 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise on each slice. Sprinkle the Parmesan on top of the mayonnaise and toast the bread under the broiler until the cheese is melted and golden brown, about 3 minutes (watch it carefully, as some broilers are hotter than others).

Let the toast cool slightly. When it’s cool enough to handle, turn the bread over and spread the remaining mayonnaise on the untoasted sides of each slice. On one slice, arrange the seasoned tomato slices; on the other slice, arrange the sprouts. Place the slices together, with the cheesy sides facing out. Cut the sandwich in half and serve.