Toasted sandwiches, toasted sammies, toasties, jaffles. There are many names for the humble lunch enjoyed by people everywhere and today I’m going to give you a few recipes that are my favourites since I miss having a toasted sandwich press in Japan.

1. A classic that gets a lot of flack from non-kiwis: spaghetti and cheese

Ingredients:

• Two slices of white bread
• Tinned spaghetti
• Grated edam cheese
• Butter

Step 1: Turn on the toasted sandwich maker. Butter the bread and place butter side down.

Step 2: pour approx 4tbsp of tinned spaghetti onto one slice of bread and spread to evenly coat the slice. Be careful as too much spaghetti is liable to explode and go thermonuclear on your lap!

Step 3: sprinkle grated cheese on top of the spaghetti. It should cover the spaghetti evenly.

Step 4: put the second slice of bread on top of cheese with the butter side up.

Step 5: transfer to the sandwich press and close the lid.

Step 6: wait impatiently for the cheese to melt and the bread to get a golden crust.

Step 7: carefully remove sandwich, cut without spurting the thermonuclear spaghetti everywhere.

Step 8: enjoy, good luck. It is a part of the citizenship test in NZ to see how much you spill and how many times you burn your mouth.

2. The general formula for a toasted sandwich

Ingredients:

• Two slices of bread. This can be any type of bread you like. Fancy sandwiches are usually made with sourdough or Vogels in NZ
• Cheese. I recommend slices of cheese over grated to get even coverage. Edam is always my go to but you do you.
• Other: sliced tomato, sliced capsicum (roasted is better than raw), diced onion, pineapple chunks, bacon, ham, pastrami, salt, pepper, condiments etc.
• Butter

Step 1. Turn on the toasted sandwich maker. Butter the bread and place butter side down.

Step 2: put a layer of sliced cheese on one slice of bread.

Step 3: layer on other ingredients of your choice. My favourites include champagne ham and tomato with salt and pepper, or bacon, pineapple and a mustard swirl.

Step 4: add second layer of sliced cheese and put second piece of bread on top, butter side upwards.

Step 5: transfer to the sandwich press and close the lid.

Step 6: wait impatiently for the cheese to melt and the bread to get a golden crust.

Step 7: cut and enjoy. I find that for this general recipe less is more so that flavours don’t clash and to prevent the sandwich from falling apart (the two layers of cheese should act like glue to hold it together).

3. Nana’s special

This recipe is what my Nana used to make for us whenever she made toasted sandwiches. I remeber her whenever I make this recipe, it’s a taste of nostalgia.

Ingredients for four sandwiches:

• Eight slices of bread
• 1/4-1/2 of an onion, diced
• 5 tbsp creamed corn
• Egg
• Chopping bacon or ham
• Grated cheese
• Butter

Step 1: Turn on the toasted sandwich maker. Butter the bread and place butter side down.

Step 2: in a mixing bowl add onion, creamed corn, egg, meat and grated cheese. Mix thoroughly to create a spread.

Step 3: spread 1/4 of the mixture evenly over one piece of bread per sandwich and place the second piece of bread on top, butter side up.

Step 4: transfer to the sandwich press and close the lid.

Step 5: wait impatiently for the cheese to melt and the bread to get a golden crust.

Step 6: cut and enjoy. Once again, try not to add too much filling else it will explode on you.

I have been making g toasted sandwiches while in Japan, however I have to fry them on the stove and flip them so get both sides golden. There have been a couple of discoveries that I’ve made while here that have improved my toastie game, however, and I’ll be bringing these ideas back to NZ.

First is their garlic bread spread; spread it on bread to make instant garlic bread. The hint of garlic really enhances the sandwich.

Second is their bread slice size options. In NZ the standard white bread comes in sandwich or toast size slices with only a few millimeters of difference between them. In Japan their loaves are half the size of a loaf in NZ but they are cut into a set number of slices. This means that the slices can be super chunky if you buy a 3 or 4 slice loaf (which is great for dunking into soup), however I have come to appreciate the 6-slice loaf as the optimal thickness for a toasted sandwich. I’m going to buy unsliced bread and cut it thicker myself.