I didn’t expect a tomato sandwich to blow me away, but then I tried The Tomato from Turkey and the Wolf in New Orleans. It looked simple enough—thick slices of tomato, mayo, and a generous amount of buttered bread—but the combo was so good it completely caught me off guard. It was Steve who found the recipe through Sandwiches of History on Instagram, and after watching that video, I knew I had to try it.
The original version is delicious, but also a bit of a beast. Lots of bread, lots of butter, and the juicy tomatoes turn everything soggy if you don’t eat it right away. I’m from Denmark, the land of smørrebrød, so naturally I thought, what if we just made it open-faced? Still buttery, still juicy, still amazing—just easier to handle and better suited for lunch. Or cut it in half and serve it as a starter if you’re hosting. Either way, that tomato and mayo magic is still front and center.
Notes
In the photos for this recipe I’m using is Danish white bread, but I’ve also made it a couple of times with sourdough bread and it turned out really good too.
I’ve tried adding bacon bits to level up the sandwich, because, well, bacon makes everything better, right? Turns out, not this time. The salty bacon overpowered the fresh flavors of dill and tomato, and this alteration didn’t work at all.
Use real mayonnaise.
Open-faced Tomato Sandwich
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sandwichThe Tomato is an amazing sandwich, but it has a lot of butter-toasted bread, and I found it hard to finish all of it in one go. The juice from the fresh tomatoes makes the bread go soggy after a short while, so saving the leftovers for later isn’t really an option either. Coming from Denmark, the land of smørrebrød (open-faced ryebread sandwiches), I therefore decided to tweak it a little, and make an open-faced version with only one slice of bread.
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Ingredients
2-3 slices beefsteak tomato
Salt and pepper for the tomato
1 slice white bread
Butter for frying
Mayonnaise
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Salted sunflower seeds
A handful of fresh dill
Directions
- Sprinkle the tomato slices with salt and pepper, and set them aside for a few minutes while you toast the bread.
- Butter both sides of the bread and toast it in a skillet over medium heat until golden brown and crispy.
- Once toasted, spread a thick layer of mayonnaise on the bread.
- Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the mayo.
- Add lots fresh dill on top of the mayo.
- Place the tomato slices over the dill.
- Sprinkle with salted sunflower seeds.
- Finish with a little more dill for garnish.
