Italian Beef Sandwiches
Where I live, people are pretty opinionated about their Italian beef, so just to be clear, here is what I like in a good Italian beef sandwich: I like my beef very tender, to the point of falling apart. I’m not into the sliced pieces, that are then put back in the gravy. No, thank you. I want teeny little shreds of meat that are completely coated in the jus, times a million, in my sandwich. And it has to be insanely flavorful, both the beef and the jus, with lots of herbs and spices, not just a brothy gravy that tastes beefy and not much else. Big garlic flavor is a must, and if you can manage to somehow brighten up the whole thing with some fresh herbs, more power to you. Oh, and you can’t just put a couple of packets of seasoning and soup mix in it, because that stuff is bad for you, haven’t you heard? If you are on the same Italian beef page as I am, this recipe is for you.
That last little bit about the packets of soup mix? Yeah, that really threw me off. My former love of onion soup mix goes back for generations, starting with my grandma. As a recent immigrant to the States after World War II, she must have been amazed at all the little things that were available here that made feeding her family so easy… instant cake mix, evaporated milk, and yes, onion soup mix. And as much as my grandma loved baking, she wasn’t a big fan of cooking. So I’m sure she was thrilled to use these little shortcuts, and turn out meals that her family loved.
In my family cookbook, recipes for authentic German Spaetzle and Rolladen are interlaced with some All-American, onion-soup-filled, 1960’s classics. Her recipe for meatloaf contained a package, as does her recipe for pepper steak… and the list goes on. That stuff makes EVERYTHING taste good. Which is probably why, when my mom had her own family to feed, there was always a package in the pantry. Its taste is familiar, and you can really make just about anything with it. Did I mention it tastes really good?
Ok, so fast forward to today. Now I have a family to cook for and feed. For quite a while, I always had that same package of goodness in my pantry, too, and used it often. But then I started thinking a bit more about my food. I started looking at the labels of things. I started thinking about why I was spending so much money on something that wasn’t even real food… couldn’t I get that flavor out of, I don’t know… food? I must say, reading the label for a box of onion soup is kind of appalling. One little packet contains all of these things, which I think we can all agree are less than ideal: sugar, caramel food coloring, hydrogenated soybean oil, and MSG, along with a host of other gross-sounding chemicals. You don’t have to be a health nut to know that ain’t good stuff. But no wonder it tastes so good… I’ve been sprinkling sugar and MSG on everything! That combo will make anyone’s brain go crazy and say, “Gimme some more o’ that!”
Anyway. I wish I could say as soon as I realized what was in the stuff I threw it away and never looked back. But it was hard. The taste of it was something I had learned to love… it was in my favorite meatloaf, beef stroganoff, and yes… Italian beef. It took me a while before I was finally ready to ditch the stuff for good. So what did it take, you ask? It took me realizing that I could make things taste just as good, if not wayyyyy better, by using real food. I know it sounds silly and simple, but we’ve gotten to the point where we forget that we can make things taste the way we want them to without adding a bunch of processed ingredients. After all, years and years ago, the scientists who came up with the stuff were trying to make all those chemicals taste like something, other than a box of chemicals, right?
This Italian beef is the perfect example of something that tastes amazing when you make it from whole, fresh ingredients. It still has those deep, rich flavors that you crave, but without that salty, somewhat briny aftertaste. You get big beefy flavor from getting a nice, dark sear on the meat, and rich onion flavor by using… get this… onions! A bit of celery rounds out the flavor, and you get a tangy, herby broth by using… again, crazy, herbs and spices! Wonders never cease. The result is better Italian beef than I’ve ever had before, with very little extra work. You’ll never miss the soup mix, I promise. And it may just give you the confidence you need to throw out your stash, too. At least it’s a step in the right direction.
Italian Beef Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 3-4 lb. beef chuck roast
- 3 tablespoons olive oil (not extra virgin)
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 a large onion, chopped
- 1 small celery stalk, finely chopped
- a few sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 cups beef broth
Instructions
- Start by seasoning your chuck roast very generously with salt and pepper. Then, in a heavy pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers, but not until it smokes. Add the chuck roast, searing it on all sides. (This should take 4-5 minutes per side. You'll know you have a good sear when the meat releases easily from the pan- if it is sticking and you have to try to pry it off, it's not done! Give it another minute.)
- Once all the sides are seared, remove the pot from the heat and add in the rest of the ingredients. Toss them around with a wooden spoon or tongs, just so everything gets a bit mixed up in there. Then put the pot back on the heat and bring to the lowest simmer you can. Cover it with a snug fitting lid and let it simmer away for at least 4 hours, or up to 8 hours. The meat is done when it falls apart easily beneath your fork. When the meat is cooked, remove the bay leaves and the thyme sprigs. Carefully, remove the hunks of meat to a cutting board or plate, and shred them with two forks. Put the meat back into the pot with the juices, and turn it over a few times so all the pieces of meat are coated.
- Serve with crusty Italian rolls and your favorite giadinara or peppers.