Recipe: How To Make a New York-Style Hoagie

In New York, a sandwich isn’t just a sandwich. Whether it’s called a sub, hero, grinder or hoagie, the long roll wrapped around freshly sliced cold cuts is king. Even at Saul’s – Melbourne’s purveyors of NY-style sangas in the southeast – the hoagie comes out on top.

“The hoagie roll is quintessentially New York,” says Brittany Gebert, operations manager for the Carnegie deli. “It’s that kind of generous style meets organised chaos – a meal in between two pieces of bread.”

Saul’s hoagie balances heft with freshness, leaving you with something substantial but still summer-friendly. “It’s the summer sandwich, in my opinion,” says Gebert.

The quality of the components is crucial, so don’t skimp on a good, sub-like roll. “Whether it’s a baguette or a white sesame-crusted roll, it needs to be crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. You’re going to be putting a lot of stuff in there, so it’s really worth looking for a good sub,” says Gebert.

Buy red pesto at the supermarket, or make Saul’s version from scratch. “If you want to do it the old-school way, use a mortar and pestle,” suggests Gebert.

“We use three different types of pork meats: mortadella, salami and ham,” says Gebert. If you’re getting your meats from the deli, ask for thin slices. “The thinner the mortadella, the better, because it is quite salty,” says Gebert. “You want all the cuts to be relatively the same slicing so all of the flavours are balanced.”

Lay the meats across the bread in layers, with the mortadella taking the most real estate. The salami (Saul’s uses hot sopressa) is potent, and you only need a few slices. Add the ham last – more than the sopressa, but less than the mortadella.

After your deli meats, layer on the cheese. At Saul’s, it’s the deli and the milder, bodega staple provolone. Sub it out if you can’t find it, just don’t opt for anything too sharp. Lay your cheese over the cold cuts for that picture-perfect roll. “You want the cheese to be in the middle because it’s the best for the cross-section,” says Gebert.

Finish with thinly sliced red onion, kosher pickles (sliced lengthways) and butter lettuce. “I always put the lettuce on the aioli side of the bread to let it stick to it,” says Gebert.

She also suggests wrapping your creation in butcher's paper. “It holds in the sandwich. It’s huge and hard to hold with two hands, and that’s the whole point. You need something to hold it together.”

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Saul’s New York-style hoagie

Serves 1–2
Preparation time: up to 30 minutes if you make your own pesto
Assembly: 5 minutes

Ingredients

Pesto
100g marinated sun-dried tomatoes
1 roast pepper from a jar, or 1 red capsicum, seeded, roasted and peeled
100ml olive oil
50g pecorino cheese
50g cashews and almond mix
30g fresh basil
1 clove of garlic
Salt and pepper to season

Sandwich
1 long white sesame seed bread roll
1 tbsp red pesto (as above, or store-bought)
1 tsp aged balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp aioli (house-made or store-bought)
100g mortadella
100g hot salami sopressa
100g ham capicola
3 slices provolone or other mild cheese
½ red onion, thinly sliced
50g kosher pickle, thinly sliced
3 leaves of butter lettuce

Method

For pesto, mix all ingredients in a food processor until incorporated into a paste.

To assemble the sandwich, cut white sesame bread roll lengthwise and open side by side. On the bottom side of the roll, spread red pesto. On the top side, drizzle with balsamic vinegar, then spread aioli.

Construct sandwich with layers of deli meats. Follow with cheese slices, then onions, pickles and butter lettuce.

To serve, close top to bottom, cut directly in the middle and plate. You can make it look more authentic by wrapping it in butcher’s paper and slicing it through the middle to give it that deli feel.