CHEF JOHN'S CUBAN SANDWICH

Chef John's Cuban Sandwich image

Here's how I build a Cuban, or Cubano, sandwich. I like to use pulled pork. Carnitas would work too. These ingredients and amounts are open to your own personal preferences, but here's the general idea.

Provided by Chef John

Categories World Cuisine Recipes Latin American Caribbean

Time 21m

Yield 2

Number Of Ingredients 9

Ingredients

¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup mustard
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 (8 ounce) loaf Cuban bread
8 slices Swiss cheese
6 thin slices smoked fully-cooked ham
1 ½ cups cooked pulled pork, heated
1 large dill pickle, sliced thinly lengthwise
2 tablespoons butter, or as needed

Steps:

Mix mayonnaise, mustard, and cayenne together in a bowl to make the sauce.
Trim off ends of bread. Cut loaf in half and evenly split bread to make tops and bottoms of 2 sandwiches. Spread each half on both sides generously with the mayo/mustard sauce.
Divide sandwich ingredients between the two bottom halves in this order: 2 slices Swiss cheese, 3 slices ham, hot cooked pork, pickle slices, and 2 more slices of Swiss cheese. Place tops on sandwiches.
Melt butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Place sandwiches in skillet and press down with a heavy weight (such as another skillet or foil-wrapped bricks). Toast sandwiches until bread is crisp and filling is heated through, 3 or 4 minutes per side.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 1473.1 calories, Carbohydrate 85.4 g, Cholesterol 287.1 mg, Fat 85.2 g, Fiber 5.3 g, Protein 88.2 g, SaturatedFat 37.3 g, Sodium 4076.6 mg, Sugar 4.2 g