Huge Italian Beef Sandwich
Prep
25m
Cook
180m
Total
205m
Bigly says
Pay attention. The Italian beef sandwich. The HUGEST Italian beef sandwich. The greatest sandwich ever assembled in the city of Chicago — and Chicago has assembled a LOT of sandwiches, more sandwiches than any other city in America, I've checked, I've had people check, they came back and said, 'Bigly, Chicago is the sandwich capital,' and I believed them, because I've eaten there, I've eaten EVERYWHERE there, I've eaten more Italian beef in Chicago than most Chicagoans have eaten in their entire LIVES — and this one, the one we're doing right now, beats every single one.
The Italian beef sandwich is a perfect food. PERFECT. Many people don't realize this. They go through their whole lives, sad lives, eating turkey sandwiches and tuna sandwiches and other sandwiches that have given up on their own potential, when they could be eating thinly sliced roast beef, simmered in its own herby gravy — they call it 'jus,' it's French, the French got one thing right, they got the gravy right, that's the LIST — piled onto a crusty Italian roll, with sweet peppers OR spicy giardiniera, your choice, no wrong answer, and DIPPED. DIPPED. You dip the WHOLE SANDWICH back into the jus before serving. Other sandwiches are afraid to get wet. This sandwich isn't afraid of anything.
The sandwich has history — REAL history. They've been making this in Chicago since before the highways, since before the skyline, since before half the things you can name. A guy named Tony, working a banquet for stockyard workers in the 1930s, stretched a tough cut by slicing it paper-thin and floating it in gravy. The man was a HERO. We should put his face on something. The cookbook authors will tell you to use deli roast beef from the package. NO. We're roasting our own. It takes some time, but the time pays you back, the time pays you back with INTEREST, big interest, the best interest rates, and the leftovers — and there will be leftovers — make the next three days of lunches the best three days of lunches you've ever had. Hands down.
Ingredients
- 3.5 lbboneless beef top round or sirloin tip roast(lean, tight-grained roast — this is non-negotiable)
- 2 tspkosher salt
- 2 tspfreshly cracked black pepper
- 2 tspdried oregano
- 2 tspdried basil
- 1 tspdried thyme
- 2 tspgarlic powder
- 1 tsponion powder
- 1 tspcrushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 1yellow onion, quartered
- 6 clovesgarlic, smashed
- 4 cupslow-sodium beef broth
- 2bay leaves
- 6crusty Italian sub rolls(sturdy rolls, the soft ones disintegrate, sad)
- 1 cup, drainedhot giardiniera(the chopped oily Chicago kind, not the pickle-y stuff)
- 1 cup, drainedsweet Italian peppers, jarred, sliced (optional)
- 6Provolone slices (optional)
Steps
- 1
The day before (or at least 4 hours ahead): pat the roast dry with paper towels. Combine the salt, pepper, oregano, basil, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Rub all over the roast. Refrigerate uncovered on a rack at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
- 2
Heat oven to 325°F. Bring the roast to room temperature for 45 minutes before cooking.
- 3
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the roast on all sides until deeply browned, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
- 4
Add the onion quarters and smashed garlic to the pot. Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring, until lightly browned.
- 5
Pour in the beef broth and add the bay leaves. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom. Return the roast to the pot — the liquid should come about halfway up.
- 6
Cover and transfer to the oven. Roast for 2 to 2.5 hours, until the meat is fork-tender but still sliceable (internal temp 195-200°F).
- 7
Transfer the roast to a plate and tent loosely with foil. Strain the jus through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean pot. Skim off any excess fat. Taste and season — the jus should be deeply savory and herby.
- 8
Once the roast has rested at least 30 minutes (and ideally chilled completely — sliced cold beef gives much thinner slices), slice it as thin as humanly possible against the grain. A serrated knife or a meat slicer is your friend.
- 9
Return the sliced beef to the warm jus and let it sit in the jus for 5-10 minutes to absorb flavor and reheat. Do not boil — gently warm.
- 10
Split the rolls. If using provolone, lay a slice inside each roll and let it melt slightly from the warm beef.
- 11
Use tongs to pile a generous mound of beef into each roll, letting jus drip back into the pot. Top with giardiniera, sweet peppers, or both.
- 12
For a 'dipped' sandwich: dunk the entire sandwich, beef and all, briefly into the warm jus before serving. Serve immediately with extra jus on the side for re-dipping. Eat leaning forward.
One more thing
This is the sandwich. This is the sandwich that built Chicago. This is the sandwich that you make for your friends and your friends never leave, they just stay at your house, sleeping on the couch, asking when the next one is coming. You give them another one. You give them another one because you have all that beef and all that jus and you're a generous person, a tremendous person, you're WINNING at lunch, you're winning at LIFE. Don't tell your friends. Keep this one for yourself.
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