Some days you want a sandwich, and some days you need a sandwich. But not just any sandwich will do, you need a manly sandwich with the perfect meat-to-bread ratio. In all my searching I’ve found few sammies that answer the call quite as well as the Italian Grinder.

Now words like “Grinder” and “Hoagie” are mostly regional names that all just mean basically a sub sandwich. So don’t let the name throw you off. But at the same time, isn’t there something special about calling a sandwich by a special name? I think there is.

BONUS: This recipe includes instructions for a “Garlic Aioli” spread. That’s the fancy name for it (names again). In all practicality it’s mostly a garlic mayo–but it really makes the flavors in this sandwich pop; so I recommend it. Plus it’s a great little trick to have up your sleeve next time you want to impress someone with your cooking.

 

Prep Time: 5 min     Cook Time: 7 min     (Aioli add another 15 min)

Ingredients:

• 1 Bread (Roll or Sub or Hoagie; but make sure it’s fresh)
• 4 slices of Genoa Salami
• 4 slices of Prosciutto
• 4 slices of Hot Capocollo
• 2 slices of Provolone Cheese
• 2 slices of Tomato
• 1 handful of Shredded Lettuce
• 1 Pickle Spear
• 1 splash of Red Wine Vinegar
• Sprinkle of Salt/Pepper/Oregano

Ingredients for Aioli: 

• 2 cloves of Garlic
• Pinch of Salt
• 2 Egg Yolks
• 4 tablespoons or 1/4 cup of Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 300º. If you’re going to make the Garlic Aioli (which I recommend) jump to that first to get it out of the way, because the rest of the sandwich instructions are pretty straight forward.
2. Cut your bread in half lengthwise so you can open it up. Optional: apply the garlic aioli to the bread. Send the bread and spread into the oven for about 2 minutes.
3. Slice up your tomato. Set it aside.
4. Pull the sandwich out of the oven and add layers of meat and cheese. Meat first, then cheese. You know the drill.
5. Put the sandwich back into the oven for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is sufficiently melted.
6. Shred your lettuce.
7. Take the sandwich out of the oven and turn the oven off. Always remember to turn the oven off when you’re finished.
8. Add lettuce, tomato, a splash of red wine vinegar, and the seasonings to the top of your sandwich and enjoy.

Directions for Aioli:

1. Peel the 2 cloves of garlic and then chop it up really fine. Mince it.
2. Sprinkle in a little salt (“coarse” if you have it) and chop the garlic some more.
3. In a mixing bowl add the garlic, salt, and 2 egg yolks. Stir a bit with a whisk.
4. This next step is a little more technical. While whisking (which is different than stirring), add in the olive oil 1 drop at a time. That sounds tedious–and it is–but there’s a chemical reaction happening and you need to respect that.
5. Once the mixture starts to thicken a bit as you’re whisking add more and more olive oil until you’ve poured it all in. Once you have the first tablespoon of oil dripped in, you can pour the remaining three much quicker.
6. Continue to whisk until you have a sort of mayo texture.
7. Optionally you can add a little lemon to give it more of a spring-time zing.

The sandwich instructions make a single sandwich, but you can decide how many sandwiches you want and then buy enough cold cuts to make you a week of sandwiches.

Also, the aioli recipe will make enough spread for about 4 sandwiches.

This is when it’s really handy to have a nice set of mixing bowls with the rubber bottoms so they don’t slide all over the kitchen counter while you’re trying to whisk with one hand and pour oil with the other.

Here’s a few kitchen essentials I highly recommend for this recipe: