There was something truly magical about our Italian hoagies we sold at our pizzeria. Learn how to make them at home!
Man, I so miss our pizzeria. It was hot and grueling, we’d fight like cats and dogs (that’s what you get when you work with family), but the food folks… My God, it was amazing!
There was a reason why our pizzeria was so successful for almost 20 years. The pizzas were amazing but our subs y’all… They were next level! I honestly don’t think I could put a number on how many we sold a week let alone a day.
Made fresh daily, I swear it felt like my only job was to make these as I’d be in the back room for hours on end making them.
After we closed down the shop, I didn’t make them for a long time. Call it bitter-sweet perhaps. That being said, I can remember the first time I made these for dinner. I had come home from a rough day at work. I was cranky, mad at the world, and just didn’t want to be bothered but I knew I had to make dinner.
That night, Mr. Fantabulous had asked what was for dinner. When I told him what it was, he said “What? Subs for dinner? Like seriously? A sandwich? For dinner??” in a tone that wasn’t exactly welcome. He got the look and I might have hissed, muttered a few cuss words and told him to starve then. Yeah, I was that cranky.
So I continued with my plan, prepped these beauties, and popped them in the oven (sans the veggies) to crisp up and melt the cheese.
While these were baking away I got changed and sat for a few minutes just to unwind. By this point, Mr. Fantabulous peeked his head out to see me (and to see if was safe). He knew I had a bad day so he was trying to make me laugh (which doesn’t take much with that goof).
As he sat down and took his first few bites, some dressing dripping onto his chin and plate you could see the food elation in his face. I just blew his mind with this thing. Trust me, I know that man and I knew EXACTLY what I had done.
I honestly don’t think he came up for air with this. He kept raving over and over how much he loved this thing and could I make him another for work tomorrow.
He then said, after he was done devouring it, “Baby, these remind me of the pizza shop! God, I missed those subs!”
PrintThe Best Italian Hoagie/Sub/Grinder
There was something truly magical about our Italian hoagies we sold at our pizzeria. Learn how to make them at home!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 hoagies
- Category: hoagies, sandwiches, game day foods, party subs, grinders
- Method: oven baked
- Cuisine: hoagies, sandwiches, game day foods, party subs, grinders
Ingredients
- 4 Soft ‘n Chewy Hoagie Rolls cut length-wise but not all the way through
- 16 slices of Virginia Baked Ham
- 20–24 slices sliced Hard Salami
- 20 slices Spicy Sandwich Pepperoni
- 16 slices Capicola
- 16 slices Pepper Jack cheese or 8 slices Mozzarella Cheese and 8 slices Provolone cheese
- 4–5 cups chopped lettuce
- 2 large tomatoes sliced into 1/8–1/4” thick slices
- 1 large sweet onion (preferably red) sliced into 1/8″ slices (rings)
- 1–2 cups banana pepper rings (however hot you like it)
- Italian Dressing
- Oregano
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F with the rack in the middle. Place 4 wide-open split rolls onto cookie sheets.
- Starting at one end, lay down 4 pieces of the ham slightly overlapping one another until you reach the other end of the bun. You want to place your ham to where it covers almost all of the bread. Alternatively, you can fold the ham in half and place it on the bottom half of the bun. Completely your call.
- Add 4-5 slices of hard salami on top, again slightly overlapping from one end of the bun to the other. Add the capicola and sandwich pepperoni in the same manner. If the meat is only on one side of the bun, place 4 slices of the cheese (4 of the pepper jack or 2 of the provolone and mozzarella) on the non-meat side. If you’ve placed the meat along the middle of the bun so it spreads out over both sides, place the cheese in the same fashion but not putting the cheese to the end (you don’t want it to melt off).
- Next, sprinkle a pinch of oregano on top of the meat and cheese. Now some choose to drizzle some dressing on top prior to baking. You can do so but remember it can make the bread soggy. Place both trays in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted. I prefer to leave it in 12-14 minutes as I like that slight char/crispness the meat gets on the ends. Remove from the oven and garnish with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and hot pepper rings.
- Drizzle on Italian Dressing.
Notes
Other additions can be spinach, olives, jalapenos and etc.
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