Italian beef joints are the number one subject we converse about with Chicago transplants. Italian beef is traditionaly a braised or roasted round roast, chilled, and sliced incredbly thin. These thin slices of round roast are then reheated in a beef stock and seasoning mix (often incorporated with drippings from the round roast) and then stuffed into a French roll, that is often then dipped or soaked in the same gravy. To keep the Italian beef sandwich from falling apoart, immediately wrapt tightly in deli wax paper and let rest for 2 minutes. This time allows the French roll to steam and for the flavored gravy to evenly soak across the sandwich. The Italian Beef Sandwich is now having nationwide recognition from the show, “The Bear” on FX, and for good reason as it’s one of the best regional specialties that exists.
Top an Italian beef with giardiniera, sport peppers, pepperoncini, or saute up some bell peppers (with garlic and/or onions - optinoal) and top your sandwich. The acidity from canned peppers helps brighten up an otherwise very heavy sandwich.
You can also use Italian beef as a popular pizza topping (pictured to the right), often in combination with giardiniera, Italian sausage, or some type of peppers.