Jump to Recipe

It seems like everyone is talking about HBO’s show Heated Rivalry. People seem to be falling into two main categories: either you’re obsessed with the show, like in a this-is-funny-but-I’m-worried-about-your-mental-health sort of way, or you’re sick of hearing about it. I actually fall somewhere in the middle; I love it but haven’t rewatched it several times and don’t subject my loved ones to endless rants about the genius of the acting and directing while they space out and inch slowly away. My sister Bailey, on the other hand, is squarely in the obsessed camp. The week after she finished the show she rewatched episodes while she cleaned the house during the day—if you’re a parent, you’ll know watching TV during daylight hours is simply unheard of. She also started blasting the soundtrack on repeat in the car with her eyes closed. She has since cooled a little bit, but the show still takes up a high percentage of our conversations (just to be clear, I mostly enjoy it). All that to say, the show is so popular that even the food and drinks featured in it are having a moment. The humble tuna melt was iconically given from one romantic partner to the other, so if you’re seeing tuna melts pop up all over the internet right now, that’s why.

This sandwich did not come about because I suddenly craved hockey players serving me tuna melts, though I did happen to stumble upon a recipe for a pesto grilled cheese sandwich with anchovies that looked mighty tasty around the time that I watched the show. Perhaps all the hype around tuna melts did affect me a little bit, because I decided to swap in tuna for anchovies. Thanks for the inspo, Heated Rivalry.

This sandwich marries two of my favorite popular food brands, Fish Wife and Molly Baz’s Ayoh! sauce. A good friend gave me The Fish Wife Cookbook for my birthday, and I zeroed in on the recipe for a pesto grilled cheese sandwich with anchovies right away. Not being a huge eat-anchovies-plain person (though I do love them as a flavor punch and general salty seasoning), I decided to swap the anchovies out for a heftier fish, tuna. I had a few cans of Fish Wife’s spicy tuna, and since I figured there was an incredibly slim chance my children would be daring enough to try a sandwich with pesto in it, let alone fish, I decided to give it a go for me and Jonji’s sandos. Obviously tuna and mayo are, like Shane and Ilya, a match made in heaven, but to give the sandwich an even spicier, punchier vibe, I mashed the fish with Spicy Giardinera Ayoh! sauce. It was so good I had to stop myself eating all of it out of the bowl. I was glad I did, though, because the resulting sandwich—crisp, buttery bread hugging aromatic pesto with spicy, soft tuna and melty mozzarella—was truly a sublime eating experience. If you add in chopped pickles, you may even reach nirvana. I think Shane and Ilya would approve.

Spicy Tuna & Pesto Grilled Cheese

Makes 2 sandwiches

2 cans of Fish Wife’s Albacore Tuna in Spicy Olive Oil*
3 tbsp Spicy Giardinera Ayoh! Sando Sauce**
4-6 bread and butter pickles, finely chopped (optional)
4 slices of sourdough sandwich bread or your favorite grilled cheese bread
about 1 tbsp pesto, divided
2 handfuls of grated mozzarella or jack cheese
butter and olive oil, for toasting

*If you have regular canned tuna only, mash it with a drizzle of olive oil, 2-3 tbsp regular mayonnaise, a big pinch of salt, and hot sauce or chili crisp to taste (or omit the spice altogether).
**Use regular mayo if needed, but I highly recommend chopping up and adding a few extra bread and butter pickles to your tuna mixture.

In a medium bowl, use a fork to mash two cans of Fish Wife’s spicy tuna with 3 tbsp Spicy Giardinera Ayoh! Sando Sauce. Mix in 4-6 finely chopped bread and butter pickles (if using). Taste and add more Sando Sauce or pickles as needed.

Lay out four slices of sandwich bread and spread the pesto evenly on one half of each sandwich. Divide the tuna between the two slices, then pile and lightly press one handful of grated cheese on top, trying to keep it in an even layer.

Heat a cast-iron pan over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Drizzle some olive oil into the pan and, once that’s hot, carefully lower one of the pesto-tuna halves of the sandwich into the pan. Spread the back of the plain slice of bread with butter and press onto the cooking half. Top the pan with a lid and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook for a couple of minutes, until the cheese is starting to melt, then remove the lid, carefully flip the sandwich, and put the lid back on for another 2-3 minutes. Both sides should be browned and crispy, but not burnt—if the bread is ever burning, flip the sandwich and take the pan off the heat until it cools down a bit. The sando is ready when the cheese is nice and melty all the way through.

Enjoy hot, with extra bread and butter pickles on the side, should you desire (and I do).