Italian Beef Sandwiches
4-6
15
minutesInspired by the recent Hulu hit “The Bear”, here’s our take on the traditional Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich. In Chicago, a true Italian beef is all about the perfect roast beef, hot giardiniera, all atop a Turano Baking Company French roll. According to the New York Times, the sandwich is then “dipped, dunked or baptized” in beef juices. In our version, we slow roast chuck roast with our Italian Seasoning and opt for store-bought giardiniera and a hinged French roll. While these substitutions may make it less authentic, it didn’t make it any less delicious. Oh my. What a sammich!
Ingredients
3.5 lb chuck roast
Salt & pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbl Italian Seasoning
2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
6 cloves garlic
1/2 cup red wine
5 cups beef stock
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Jarred giardiniera
6 French rolls
Instructions
- Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 300°F. Heat a dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Season the roast with salt and pepper. Slice slits in the roast and insert garlic cloves. Heat the Caramelized Onion Avocado Oil in the dutch oven and brown the roast well on all sides until dark, golden and caramelized. Transfer the roast to a plate and reduce the heat to medium.
- Add in the onions to the pot and saute, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the Italian Seasoning, Crushed Red Pepper and wine. Simmer, stirring, to pick up any cooked on bits from the pot. Continue simmering until the liquid is reduced by half.
- Add in the stock and thyme and bring to a simmer. Place the roast back into the pot with any accumulated juices and place in the oven. Cook the roast, turning every 30 minutes, until very tender, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
- Transfer the roast to a cutting board and tent with foil. Strain the jus through a sieve into a bowl and return to the pot. Bring to a simmer to reduce it a bit. Simmer for 10 mins. Turn off heat and taste. Adjust with salt and Crushed Red Pepper if needed.
- Once cooled a bit, pull the meat into smaller chunks, return to the jus in the pot. Warm the giardiniera in a bowl in the microwave.
- To build the sandwiches, place meat in a french roll, top with hot giardiniera. Serve the sandwiches with small bowls of jus for dipping.
