Football Season is Back - It’s Time for Tailgating

Football season is back and so is tailgating. My husband and I were invited to a Bronco watch party, and I offered to bring sliders. There are so many recipes for sliders—ham and Swiss cheese, pulled pork with coleslaw, pulled chicken, meatball, crab cake, French dip, corned beef and cabbage, roast beef and cheddar cheese. I struggled with what variety to make. I love Italian cold cuts, so I decided to make sliders with my favorite Italian deli meats and cheese. I added some pepper jack cheese for a bit of punch and topped them with sliced pepperoncini. My Italian sliders got rave reviews at our gathering. Unfortunately, the Broncos did not.

A few days before the Broncos played, my grandson had baseball games in Longmont, so between his double header, my husband and I visited Cheese Importers. They stock Soppresata salami, Italy’s most treasured cured meat. I have been wanting to make something with this product so I purchased some for my sliders. Cheese Importers also carries ricotta salata, which I mentioned in my last blog. I can’t wait to create something delicious with this hard-to-find cheese.

What is Soppresata? This cherished salami is made from high quality pork and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and fennel seeds. Most salamis are made from finely ground meat, but the meat in Soppressata is coarsely ground. Once the meat is seasoned, it is packed into natural casings and pressed. Soppressare means “to press” in Italian. After being pressed, Soppressata is hung to dry and cured for several months, which allows its flavors to intensify. If you want to make this recipe and can’t find Soppressata, a good substitute is Genoa salami.

Deli meats have gotten a bit pricey. I have included tips on selecting deli meats at the end of the recipe.

Carol Ann’s Italian Sliders

Makes 12 sandwiches

Some large pepperoni logs have a fibrous paper-and-cellulose or plastic-like casing. This casing should be peeled off before slicing. If you have the deli clerk slice your pepperoni, make sure this occurs.

1 package (12-count) Hawaiian rolls

4 slices pepper jack cheese

2 ounces Soppressata salami, thinly sliced

¼ pound pepperoni, thinly sliced

5 ounces deli ham, thinly sliced

4 ounces provolone cheese, sliced

Sliced pepperoncini to taste (I used about ¼ cup.)

¼ cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Your favorite marinara sauce

Preheat the oven to broil. Lightly grease a 9 X 13-inch baking dish with butter.

Using a serrated knife, slice the entire package of rolls in half horizontally, creating a top and bottom slab. (If you use Hawaiian rolls, they are already sliced. You can separate them into a top and bottom by gently pulling the tops off.) Keep each slab connected.

Transfer both the top and bottom slabs to a baking sheet and place under the broiler for 1 minute to lightly toast. This keeps the bottom from becoming soggy.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the bottom slab of rolls in the prepared baking dish. Layer with pepper jack cheese, salami, pepperoni, ham, and provolone. Garnish to taste with pepperoncini. Place the top slab of rolls on top.

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add Italian seasoning and whisk to blend. Using a pastry brush, brush the butter mixture generously over the tops of rolls, making sure to coat the sides. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and the cheese has melted. Slice into 12 sliders. Serve with warmed marinara sauce on the side.

Tips on selecting cut-to-order deli meat: Your deli may sell salami, mortadella, pancetta, prosciutto, pepperoni, pastrami, corned beef, various flavors of ham, turkey, and chicken as well as roast beef. Once its package has been opened, cut-to-order deli meat will have a short shelf life. Buy your meat from a market that is busy and turns their product quickly. If you want to purchase freshly sliced meat from the deli counter, observe the following to ensure your deli meat is fresh: Deli meats and cheeses should be sliced on different slicers; slicers are dedicated to either meat or cheese. Deli employees should not use the same slicer for both meat and cheese. Slicers should be cleaned after every use. With the shortage of staff these days, this may not occur; but slicers should be cleaned on a regular basis. If you have allergies—for example, you are allergic to beef—alert the deli clerk and make sure the slicer is cleaned before your order is sliced. The towels used to clean the slicer should also be changed after every cleaning. Observe whether or not meat is returned to the deli case immediately after slicing. Deli employees should change their gloves after slicing each customer’s order. In addition, they are required to change gloves during the same order if they are slicing both a meat and cheese item. In you don’t feel the deli employees are following these safety procedures, consider buying prepackaged sliced meats.

Tips on thickness: Meats like prosciutto, salami, pastrami, corned beef, and meat for sliders are best shaved. When cutting meat to order, every supermarket will have its own definition of thickness. Also, the slicers at different stores may vary significantly from one another. Deli meats can be shaved, sliced very thin, thin, medium (sandwich cut), or thick (dinner cut). The thicker the meat is sliced, the fewer slices there are per pound. Some stores may have a slicer guide posted on the service counter to help you determine desired thickness. To ensure that your meat is cut to the thickness you desire, ask the deli clerk to show you the thickness of the first slice before completing your order. Meats like prosciutto, salami, pastrami, corned beef, and meat for sliders are best shaved. Thinly sliced deli meats are best for charcuterie boards. Thin cut meats are best for sandwiches where more than one type of meat will be used. Medium cut is the cut most often used for single-meat sandwiches. Thick cut meats are used for dinner plates or to cube for salads and pastas.

Carol Ann

Carol Ann Kates is the award-winning author of cookbook, Secret Recipes from the Corner Market, and international Amazon best-selling and award-winning author of Grocery Shopping Secrets. She’s an expert in how to shop, select, and store produce for maximizing home cooking outcomes and minimizing time and money spent. As a former supermarket and deli operator, Carol Ann shares grocery-insider wisdom—the same expertise you used to receive when patronizing a mom-and-pop establishment. Contact her at CarolAnn@CarolAnnKates.com and explore her website, www.CarolAnnKates.com.

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