Although it is still a couple weeks away from “Sandwich Week” in the Vannoni household, I have been craving a Cuban Sandwich or Cubano. We went on a family vacation a couple weeks ago and there were Cubanos on several of the menus but, stupidly, I never ordered one. So now, I need to satisfy my craving.
Preparing this sandwich is more like gathering ingredients than cooking. I get the pork from a great BBQ place (Sugarfire), I get the rolls from a local bakery (Breadsmith) and I usually get the ham from the deli counter at my local grocery store (Dierbergs).
Now, on this occasion I happen to have thinly sliced ham that I froze the last time I baked a bone-in ham. It kicks it up a notch but your sandwich will still be delicious with regular deli ham (might I recommend Bavarian or Off-the-Bone). And my roll is not the traditional Cuban Bread Roll; I don’t know where to find one in St. Louis. If anyone out there does, please fill me in. If you can’t find any type of Cuban bread you can use a hoagie, Ciabatta or even a hamburger bun; just not a baguette. Now, let’s start assembling…
Cuban Sandwich
Ingredients
- 2 Cuban Bread Rolls
- 1/2 lb Pulled Pork
- 4 thinly sliced pieces of Ham
- 4 slices of Swiss Cheese
- Dill Pickles
- Yellow Mustard
Instructions
- Slice your rolls in half.
- Spread a thin layer of mustard on each half of the bread.
- On the bottom half of each roll layer a slice of Swiss cheese, half of the pulled pork, 2 slices of ham, pickles and another slice of Swiss. Put the top layer of bread on your sandwich.
- If you have a panini press, great, this is a chance to use it. If not, check out How to Fake A Panini Press. The bread I use doesn't need to be buttered on the outside before it is grilled, yours might, especially it is a bit soft on the outside. Grill your sandwich on medium heat for about 5 minutes per side or until sandwich is hot and the cheese is nice and melty.
- Take your sandwich out of the pan and let it rest for a minute or so. Then, I like to slice ours in half because the rolls are quite big but that is just my preference.
I think fried plantains or plantain chips would be the traditional side here but I have not tackled that one yet. I served with plain kettle cooked potato chips and some fresh pineapple and they were delicious together.
Enjoy!
6/9/16 Update
My friend Caron let me know you can buy Plantain Chips at Trader Joe’s for $1.99. Thanks Caron! She also recommends not eating the entire bag in one sitting… so… good luck with that one.
Yum! Looks delish!! Can’t wait to try it 😊