How to Make Chicago-style Italian beef

Turn a beef roast into a Chicago-style feast.

One of the foods that Chicago is best known for is its Italian beef, which is most frequently found loaded into a hoagie roll for Italian beef sandwiches. If you want a taste of Chicago without having to leave your home, try whipping up a batch of Italian beef for sandwiches of your own.

Things You'll Need

• 5 lbs. top round beef roast
• Italian seasoning
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Red pepper flakes
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 or 3 bay leaves
• Roasting pan
• Meat thermometer
• Serrated knife
• Saucepan
• Hoagie rolls
• Giardiniera
• Roasted red peppers

Instructions

1. Combine 3 tbsp. of Italian seasoning, 2 tbsp. each of salt and black pepper, and 1 tbsp. of red pepper flakes, and rub the mixture and the minced garlic all over the surface of your beef roast.

2. Allow the roast to marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for a minimum of three to four hours or overnight.

3. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. Combine the chopped onion, beef broth, red wine, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves in the roasting pan.

5. Place the beef roast in the roasting pan and bake for three to three and a half hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 135 F.

6. Let the roast cool for 20 to 30 minutes before slicing.

7. Use a serrated knife to slice the roast as thinly as possible.

8. Skim any fat off the top of the broth in the roasting pan, transfer the broth to a saucepan, and warm it over low heat.

9. Add the sliced beef to the broth.

10. To make sandwiches, stuff the hoagie rolls with the beef, spoon broth over the sandwich, and top it with giardiniera and red peppers.

References

• Food Network; Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich Recipe; Guy Fieri; 2008
• Great Chicago Italian Recipes; Chicago Style Italian Beef Sandwich; 2010