10 Of Our Favorite Fall Sandwiches

Sandwiches: magnificent and humble all at once. Just because it's famous for its lunch act doesn't mean it won't translate seamlessly into an evening meal. With focus on fall ingredients and hearty fare, there's a sandwich in the mix here for everyone, whether you're an aficionado of meaty sliders, need to quell a fierce Italian sub craving or are ready to head into the open-faced world with an open face. Step away from the ham and cheese, and try our favorites crafted by sandwich-loving chefs like Craig Deihl and Dan Kluger.

Located in the heart of Manhattan's Union Square,  Union Fare is a New American restaurant with a heart as big as its square footage. (It's really big.) There's a new treat on the menu every time you go in, and fall is no exception. Swap the avocado on your toast for mashed pumpkin and add some goat cheese for a colorful, seasonal, sweet and savory lunch, vibrant first course or anytime snack.

Choose a firm, tart apple, such as Granny Smith or Jonathan, to use for the filling in these sandwiches. These varieties will hold their shape when cooked and won't break down and create a mushy filling.

Craig Deihl's classic Italian sub is one of our favorites. Replicate this ultra-satisfying lunch in your own kitchen and take home the title of Sandwich Master.

In India the word "kavaab" is used not just for skewered meat but also for meatballs, burgers and small cutlets. In this recipe the meat is combined with spices and dried fruits and rolled into sheek (skewer) kebabs. They're great with salad, tucked inside a wrap, added to a croquette mixture, or even chopped after being half-cooked, then simmered in the sauce.

You'd think James Beard Award–winning NYC chef Dan Kluger would be too busy opening his brand-new restaurant to loan a recipe to California roadside–style LES eatery Genuine Superette. When it comes to sharing sandwiches, however, there's always plenty of time. Other guest chefs who have inspired dishes at Genuine include Jamie Bissonnette, Michelle Bernstein and Paul Liebrandt. All you need to re-create this friendly-looking fully loaded lunch is some leftover chicken, a few fridge staples and ten minutes of your time.

New York City's beloved Little Owl recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. Joey Campanaro shares the recipe for the restaurant's meatball sliders, one of NYC's most enduring dishes, in our most recent episode of Plate Deconstruction. Campanaro cooks up a Sunday gravy that dresses the sliders, saying it smells like Sunday morning at his house.

One of our personal favorites as well as one of the most popular num pangs is the glazed peach and bacon. It's that combination of sweet heat, fatty crunch, smoke, and juiciness that is like total sandwich nirvana. We tap into the same pleasure zone in this combination: spicy soy–glazed juicy, ripe figs and salty, crackly fried chicken skin. Now there is no way we could ever make this sandwich to feed the thousands upon thousands of hungry New Yorkers who stream into our shops every day. But at home, it's totally doable. Of course you can swap the chicken skin for bacon, but you'll be missing out — the chicken skin is like crispy, porky lace compared to a more solid plank of bacon.

Every once in a while we just have to pat ourselves on the back for doing something we haven't seen in other cookbooks. We aren't entirely sure we're the first to make a brisket patty melt using cornbread, but we are sure this is the best version out there. A vast improvement on the close-to-perfect patty melt is enough to make us feel pretty good about this recipe. When you start seeing this on the menu of every chain restaurant in America in five years, just remember who thought of it first.

When first assembled, these sandwiches are big, magenta-and-white tasty tumbles. Overnight, they set up nicely and the creamy ricotta gets a pretty pink hue from the beets. Chives are delicate and enhance the ricotta, but green onions would make a tasty, slightly more robust substitution.

It seems simple enough, right? Three ingredients stacked inside a hard roll — what's so complicated? For a sandwich with slippery contents, construction is key, as is the ingredients ratio. I remember once being at a South Jersey diner that served this breakfast staple with a dozen slices of Taylor ham. It was a glorious sight — until my first bite sent slices of ham sliding out the back end to plop down onto the plate below. A sandwich should stick together — that's what makes a sandwich a sandwich, rather than something you have to eat with a knife and fork.